Valencia approves a sexual diversity plan that plans to design "genderless" bathrooms and changing rooms

The plenary session of the Valencia City Council approved this week the first Municipal Plan for Sexual and Gender Diversity of Valencia 2023-2027, a tool "to promote and incorporate sexual and gender diversity in all municipal policies".

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
01 April 2023 Saturday 05:49
32 Reads
Valencia approves a sexual diversity plan that plans to design "genderless" bathrooms and changing rooms

The plenary session of the Valencia City Council approved this week the first Municipal Plan for Sexual and Gender Diversity of Valencia 2023-2027, a tool "to promote and incorporate sexual and gender diversity in all municipal policies". In the debate, the Councilor for Equality and Gender Policies and LGTBI, Lucía Beamud, argued that "this government action is part of the commitment of the Valencia City Council to the defense of human rights and the fight against discrimination and crimes of hate".

As the consistory pointed out in a statement, the proposal went ahead only with the support of the government councillors, since the entire opposition voted against it.

The approved plan is materialized in practice through 63 actions that correspond to 11 strategic objectives. Through this document, the Valencia City Council incorporates the perspective of sexual and gender diversity transversally in all actions, based on the six guiding principles that govern this Plan: equal treatment and non-discrimination, diversity, intersectionality, transversality, gender perspective and participation.

As Levante has advanced and this newspaper has been able to confirm after accessing the final document approved by the plenary session, among the bets is the development of a guide for the design and use of inclusive, accessible and safe public bathrooms and changing rooms for people LGBTI . In this way, they intend to "eliminate gender biases that exist when organizing and designing public toilets, starting with municipal spaces."

For this reason, it is proposed to modify the layout of public toilets in municipal spaces (work centers, sports centers, museums, libraries, theaters, social services centers, etc.) with the intention of "offering bathrooms and spaces in 'genderless' changing rooms guaranteeing the privacy of diverse corporalities".

The plan also plans to promote that municipal sports centers are inclusive and safe spaces for LGTBIQ people to facilitate accessibility and sports practice with equal opportunities for all people, especially trans and intersex people.

To meet this objective, it is proposed to enable inclusive and non-segregated infrastructures (bathrooms, changing rooms and showers), which guarantee the privacy of diverse bodies. For example, individual rooms, as in the Abastos sports center. The document emphasizes that, abroad, there are already unisex boxes, which allow access to anyone without having to specify their sex / gender. As a previous step, they want to enable an inclusive municipal sports center for trans and intersex people.

Aware of the attacks suffered by this group -64% state that they have ever suffered some type of aggression (verbal, looks, blows, insults, shoving) due to their sexual orientation, gender expression or sexual or gender identity-, the The plan provides for the creation of "Rainbow points in nightlife neighborhoods and mass parties" to offer "specialized support to victims of LGBTIphobia" in the context of parties and leisure spaces.