Gender Neutral
The term 'gender-neutral' means that
something is not associated with either women or men.
New Kansas
City Airport Terminal Creates Controversy With Gender
Neutral Bathrooms - 3/3/23 The reason I shrug my shoulders a bit at the new Kansas City airport terminal, though, is because it’s Kansas City. You go there if you want barbecue that hides the quality of meat and the cooking technique with a thick tomato-based sauce. Thirty years ago they were a US Air focus city with service to Baltimore; Charlotte; Washington National; Indianapolis; Wichita; Las Vegas; Los Angeles, New York LaGuardia; Orlando; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; San Diego; Seattle and more – plus Air Midwest (USAir Express) service to more than a dozen cities. But now if you’re Kansas City and want to be part of the national conversation, you make sure your new airport terminal has… gender-neutral bathrooms. Look, if you want to trigger a culture war, send men and women to the same restroom (or claim that there are precisely 73 different genders). Bathrooms and gender are a hot button issue. Runway Girl defends gender neutral restrooms as inclusive, although I’d point out that now the mom would bring that 10 year old boy into the women’s restroom if they’re somehow not yet mature enough to go on their own. Not only do these all-gender restrooms provide a welcoming and inclusive space for all travellers, regardless of their gender identity or gender expression, they can make travel easier for, say, a mom who doesn’t want to send her 10-year-old son into a men’s restroom alone. Urinals get replaced by more stalls, and the stalls themselves have higher partitions. And here’s the thing: there are also plenty of gender-specific restrooms, and crucially more restroom opportunities in total than there were in the old terminal. The airport acts as though they weren’t courting controversy in doing this. Kansas City was absolutely courting controversy, and that’s fine. Advocates see this as a giant own on their culture war opponents. The city of Kansas City has broadened the use of gender neutral restrooms since the airport was first planned with them. On the one hand this ought to be
something of a non-issue, and something some people will
value. On the other I can understand why there are people
who feel under attack. Each group though has different
restrooms they can choose from at the new airport, but that
won’t make Kansas City a US Air-turned-American
Airlines focus city ever again. And it won’t help their
barbecue live up to the hype or come close to what’s
found in Central Texas. New
Kansas City terminal leans into accessibility and
inclusivity That inclusivity is by design and, as with the best designs, the inclusive and accessible features in the new terminal will make travelling easier for people of all abilities. Many of those features got a test run on Valentine’s Day, when close to 700 volunteers arrived at the shiny new terminal for a simulated operational test. Some 12,000 people had applied to test the terminal, and many of the volunteers were chosen because they had a travel challenge. “We were looking for people with knee replacements, service dogs, wheelchair users, older people, those with visual impairments, and the like,” explained Justin Meyer, deputy director of aviation for the Kansas City Aviation Department. “If we can get it right for them, we can get it right for everyone.” Here are some of the accessible amenities that travelers will find: More restrooms including all-gender facilities “One of the things that Kansas City has not had enough of is toilet fixtures in the gate areas. This new terminal solves that problem with three times as many toilet fixtures beyond security than what we’ve had in the past,” said Meyer in a video detailing the changes. He continued: Each restroom core on each concourse [A and B] comes with a few key amenities, including a family restroom, a nursing room, a water bottle refill station, and regardless of gender, a baby-changing table because dads can change diapers too. Not only do these all-gender restrooms provide a welcoming and inclusive space for all travellers, regardless of their gender identity or gender expression, they can make travel easier for, say, a mom who doesn’t want to send her 10-year-old son into a men’s restroom alone. Enclosed individual stalls give users the sort of ample privacy that many European restrooms have long offered. A digital sign saying "All Gender" above the two common symbols used to connote females and males. The screen alerts travellers when the next stall is open. Digital signage alerts travellers when the next stall is available. The universal changing tables, meanwhile, can accommodate babies, children of all ages, and indeed adults who travel with a caretaker. A spacious family restroom with a long changing table. Family restroom with universal changing table. Image: Harriet Baskas A dedicated play area The bright Children’s Play Zone (Concourse B) was also designed to be inclusive and includes an accessible play-sized aircraft and air traffic control tower. A room is painted to look like a sky with blue walls and clouds. An aircraft installation in the middle of the room allows children to climb and play in it. Large sign language and communication boards let all kids know that they are welcome to be active and social, and that they belong. A colourful sign language board is displayed in the kids play area at Kansas City International Airport Kansas City International Airport’s sign language board at the Children’s Play Zone. Kansas City Air Travel Experience For adults and children who are new to or wary about traveling, the new Kansas City Air Travel Experience, located just past security in the Concourse A Concessions Atrium, offers a safe and supportive simulated journey through the airport and onto an airplane. For these reservation-only practice flights, passengers experience checking in at a kiosk, presenting their ticket at a gate, and then, thanks to realistic wall graphics, walking to the airplane on one of the airport’s new glass jet bridges. Kansas City International Airport's simulated glass jet bridge walkway. At the end of the ‘jet bridge’ is the salvaged front section of a retired Airbus A321 airplane. Once on the plane, practice passengers can check out the (non-working) lavatory, sit in real seats, buckle up, and then listen to and watch a video of a flight attendant going through the safety briefing. Kansas City International Airport mockup cabin which is part of the Kansas City Air Travel Experience. Using a game development programme, “we recreated the new airport and the area around it,” said Chris Riebschlager, director of creative technology for Dimensional Innovations, the local design firm that created the flight simulation experience. “We recorded what would be seen out of the windows of the pretend flight and play that video back through the window.” To add to the authenticity of the simulator, there is ambient audio that includes true-to-life sounds of people on the jetway and, in the cabin, engine noise and the sound of people getting settled and opening and closing the overhead bins. “There’s even the occasional cough,” said Riebschlager and the smell of the plastic from the real airplane cabin, “but we did spare people the smell of the guy who decided to bring the fish sandwich onto the plane.” The new terminal also includes a Quiet Room (Concourse A) that can be used for prayer, but also for relaxing activities such as yoga or just sitting quietly before heading into a hectic travel day. There’s also a Multi-Sensory Room (Concourse B) designed for children and adults with autism, dementia, or sensory processing disorders. And a realistic video of the ramp and takeoff plays in the windows. Kansas City International Airport is
clearly setting a new standard for accessibility and
inclusivity in the US, and we’re here for it.
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