Gender-neutral restrooms to arrive on SMC’s main campus in 2026
The construction of a gender-neutral restroom building at the Santa Monica College (SMC) main campus has officially begun. The building will be located near the main quad area between the Theater Arts building and the Humanities and Social Science (HSS) building.
According to the Citizen Bonds Oversight Committee, the estimated total cost is $6 million. The funding source for the building comes entirely from Measure V. The website also states the project has a building footprint of approximately 700 gross square feet (GSF), a 1,400 GSF canopy and 3,000 GSF affected site area that will include flatwork and landscape.
According to a March 21 report by the Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee, the contractor for the building is Reyes Electrical Contractor, the architects will be from TSK Architects, and inspection and testing will be done by CNA, Geolabs, Spectrum Fire and JL Inspection.
SMC explained the purpose of these restrooms on their bond project planning website, SMC Bond Projects“As part of the College’s Gender Equality mission, the District is committed to providing facilities in support of gender equities. This project is part of the College’s continuous facilities improvement plan in achieving equity goals.”
In SMC’s planning documents, the restroom facility is said to feature five standard stalls and one “accessible” stall.
“All-gender restrooms benefit all people, including transgender and gender diverse individuals, people who require assistance of a caregiver of a different genders, and parents with children of different genders,” the document states.
SMC’s Board of Trustees held a public meeting on Jan. 21, 2025 to discuss various issues pertaining to the SMC community. The building of gender-neutral restrooms was a prominent proposal that was heavily discussed throughout the meeting. Many SMC staff and community members spoke at the meeting in support of building the restrooms.
The meeting held a vote with all trustee members on consent agenda item 8-A, described by the Board as “Award of Contract - Gender-Neutral Restroom Building.” According to the Board of Trustees, this would ratify a contract with the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.
Elisa Meyer, English department faculty member, showed her support for the approval of gender-neutral restrooms at the meeting. Meyer said, “This is a key step in supporting LGBTQ+ students and colleagues safety and well-being.”
She said, “Though this is an integral step for which we are grateful, further work is needed in these up and coming months and years to provide safe spaces for LGBTQ+ community members. It’s a pursuit that is an integral part of fulfilling our mission and values to provide a welcoming, thriving and safe environment for all students, especially minoritized students.”
Dr. Steph Anderson, a faculty member in SMC’s psychology department, chair of the Equity and Diversity Committee, and co-facilitator of the college’s LGBTQ+ Safe Zone training, also spoke in support of the proposal.
“The proposed freestanding all-gender restroom sends a really powerful message, this is a college where all students belong, where we prioritize their safety and we’ll revalue their ability to focus on learning instead of fearing being able to meet a most basic human need.”
Anderson said, “The cost of delaying or denying this project is far greater than the cost of moving forward with it.”
Before a decision was made, a couple of the trustees also spoke in support of the proposal. Trustee Anastasia Foster thanked the college for recognizing the need for gender-neutral restrooms, and called out Santa Monica city council members for their stance when the topic was spoken about a year prior.
“I was very disheartened about a year ago to listen to a city council meeting, well into the late hours of the night in this city, where we heard council members make archaic and outdated and obscene old trope junk about the LGBTQ community, and the use of gender inclusive and all-gender bathrooms, representing a complete lack of understanding of what it was, or representing a complete lack of respect for staff’s time and presenting it to them. I couldn’t be more pleased with my colleagues on the dais and in staff and representing our students, faculty and everyone in our community, that they are welcomed in our campus no matter who’s president, that they are welcomed no matter who’s on city council, and that they’re welcomed on our campus.” Foster said.
Trustee Rob Rader mentioned his personal motivations in supporting the proposal. He said, “I have a trans son and I’ve had to scout bathrooms everytime. And the very issues they’ve brought up are the ones I have to worry about with my son.”
Radere said, “When we do an item like this, I show him, so that he does understand that there are places that are open to him.”
After the speakers were finished, the trustees voted on the proposal, and by a unanimous vote the proposal was approved.
The estimated completion date for the restrooms is December 2026.