Inclusive public signs boost teens’ attitudes about trans people, study says. Here’s how

Something as seemingly inconsequential as the signs on a public restroom door could have a bigger influence than you might think, a new study suggests.

That’s what a Washington-based researcher found in an online experiment in which they tested how gendered signs displayed on public facilities affected people’s attitudes toward gender, according to a Jan. 17 news release.

Traci Gillig, an assistant professor at Washington State University’s Murrow College of Communication, joined forces with colleagues from University of Amsterdam and University of Arizona to conduct the first-of-its-kind study, which was published in the International Journal of Communication, the release said.

Using interactive storytelling, researchers exposed a group of roughly 300 nationally representative 12- to 17-year-olds to different types of gendered signage for restrooms and locker rooms.

One group went through a virtual school day seeing restrooms and locker rooms marked “men” and “women” with the traditional stick figure symbols, one with a triangle-shaped dress or skirt and one without. The other group went through the same school day with facilities marked “all gender” without any gendered symbols.

Afterward, participants answered questions about how they viewed gender.

The results? More inclusive spaces and ultimately more accepting kids, according to the release.

The researchers found that the group exposed to more inclusive, all-gender signage was more likely to understand and have positive attitudes toward transgender and nonbinary identities than those exposed to gender-segregated signage that showed only male and female gender binaries.

Those exposed to all-gender facilities were more likely to perceive genders outside the male-female gender binary, including trans and nonbinary identities, as valid. They also reported feeling more comfortable using all-gender facilities, the study said.

“In essence, the study showed that gender-segregation in physical spaces primes adolescents to think of gender in a binary manner, while gender-inclusive spaces tend to lead them to have a more nuanced understanding,” Gillig said in the release.

The team performed a similar study in adults within an office setting and found gendered facilities in that environment “affected adults’ attitudes in a similar, but not identical, way,” Gillig wrote in an email to McClatchy News.

“While the way adolescents understood gender was influenced in our first study, adults’ conceptualization of gender wasn’t significantly affected by office signage,” they said. “However, adults’ attitudes toward transgender and nonbinary (TNB) people were directly affected in a positive way by exposure to all-gender facilities in the office scenario.”

“We also found that adults’ attitudes toward TNB people were positively associated with their attitudes toward TNB-affirming social policies, among other findings,” they said.

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