Before the Whitney Museum of American Art moved to its new location in Lower Manhattan, it hosted a discussion about what it means for a museum to be a safe and welcoming space.

惠特尼美国艺术博物馆(Whitney Museum of American Art)搬到曼哈顿下城之前，进行了一场关于如何让博物馆变得更加安全可亲的讨论。

Providing restrooms for everyone on the gender spectrum was near the top of the list.

为各种性别的人提供卫生间排在榜单前列。

“We invited artists of all gender identifications in,” said Danielle Linzer, the director of access and community programs, “and we heard loud and clear that it was something they really needed access to. Rather than being euphemistic, we decided to be direct.”

博物馆的使用权和社区项目主管丹妮尔·林策(Danielle Linzer)说：“我们邀请具有各种性别身份的艺术家前来。我们清楚地听到他们的呼声，这真的是他们需要的设施。我们打算采用直接而非委婉的说法。”

The signs at the new building say “All Gender Restroom,” and Ms. Linzer has observed women wondering aloud, “You mean I can go in the men’s room?”

新馆址的标识是“全性别卫生间”(All Gender Restroom)。林策注意到有些女人们问道：“你的意思是我能进男厕所？”

The Whitney isn’t alone in being challenged to rethink one of the most basic uses of public space. With the issues of serving openly in the military and same-sex marriage now largely resolved, the fight for all-gender restrooms has emerged as the latest civil rights issue in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (L.G.B.T.) community — particularly the “T” part.

不止惠特尼博物馆这一个机构需要重新思考这个最基本的公共空间。在允许同性恋公开身份参军以及同性婚姻的话题反复出现后，争取全性别卫生间成为女同、男同、双性恋和跨性别者(LGBT)——尤其是最后一个群体——最新的人权活动事项。

Schools and universities (including Johns Hopkins and Michigan State), museums (like the American Folk Art Museum in New York City and the Utah Museum of Fine Arts in Salt Lake City), restaurants both trendy and modest (such as the Pass & Provisions in Houston and the Midtown Cafe in Santa Cruz, Calif.) and even the White House (in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building) are recasting the traditional men’s/women’s room, resulting in a dizzying range of (often creative) signage and vocabulary.

很多学校和大学（包括约翰·霍普金斯大学[Johns Hopkins]和密歇根州立大学[Michigan State]）、博物馆（比如纽约市的美国民间艺术博物馆[American Folk Art Museum]和盐湖城的犹他州美术博物馆[Utah Museum of Fine Arts]）、时髦和保守的餐馆（比如休斯敦的Pass & Provisions和加利福尼亚州圣克鲁斯市的中城咖啡馆[Midtown Cafe]）以及白宫（艾森豪威尔行政办公楼[Eisenhower Executive Office Building]）正在重塑传统的区分男女的卫生间，出现了各种令人眼花缭乱的（往往也是很有创意的）标识和称呼。

Part of the reason is legal. Seattle, Berkeley, Santa Fe, Austin and Philadelphia are among the cities that have passed laws requiring single-user all-gender restrooms. Philadelphia has an online Gotta Go Guide showing the location of such facilities, and there’s an app, Refuge Restrooms, that does the same nationwide.

这其中有法律方面的原因。西雅图、伯克利、圣菲、奥斯汀和费城等城市立法要求设立每次仅供一人使用的全性别卫生间。费城在Gotta Go Guide网站上发布了这些设施的地点，另外还有一个应用程序Refuge Restrooms展示全国范围内这些设施的地点。

Philadelphia businesses will have 90 days to become compliant, said Helen L. Fitzpatrick, director of the mayor’s office of L.G.B.T. affairs. “But the goal is that nobody should ever receive a fine,” she said. “I will be going out and using the law as a teachable moment.”

费城市长办公室的LGBT事务主管海伦·L·菲茨帕特里克(Helen L. Fitzpatrick)说，费城的各个行业将有90天时间来实施法律规定，“不过，我们的目标是没有一个单位收到罚单。我会出去巡查，将这项法律用作一个教育的时机”。

Introducing a new lexicon is part of the process. In September, Ms. Fitzpatrick visited a bar with an offensive sign about Caitlyn Jenner in the window. After she spoke to the owners, a new sign went up: “Cis-gender white men learned something new today!!”

这个过程包括想出一个合适的说法。今年9月，费城的一家酒吧在窗户上贴出拿凯特琳·詹纳(Caitlyn Jenner)开玩笑的无礼标语。菲茨帕特里克赶到那个酒吧，跟老板们谈了以后，他们竖起了一个新标语：“顺性别的白人今天学到了新知识！！”

The legal sanction hasn’t gone unchallenged, even after a landmark case in Maine last year, when Nicole Maines, a transgender high school student, successfully sued the school district that had denied her access to the restroom of the gender with which she identified. (Her story is chronicled in a new book, “Becoming Nicole.”)

这项法律制裁并不是没有遭到质疑，即便是在去年缅因州的那个里程碑事件发生之后。当时，变性高中生妮科尔·梅因斯(Nicole Maines)起诉学校禁止她使用她认为自己应该去的卫生间，并赢得了诉讼（新书《成为妮科尔》[Becoming Nicole]记录了她的故事）。

In September, the school board in Elko County, Nev., voted to keep transgender students out of restrooms corresponding to their gender identity. In Wisconsin, two state legislators want to require school boards to designate restrooms as exclusive to one gender, and gender is defined as the “physical condition of being male or female.” (In neighboring Minnesota, the Democratic-led State Senate defeated a similar bill.)

今年9月，内华达州埃尔科县的教育委员会投票决定，继续禁止变性学生进入他们认为自己应该去的卫生间。在威斯康星州，两位州立法委员想要求校委会规定卫生间仅供某一种性别的人使用，性别标准根据“身体性征”界定（在旁边的明尼苏达州，以民主党为主的州参议院否决了类似的提案）。

And on Tuesday in Houston, voters rejected a measure known as the bathroom ordinance, which would prohibit discrimination based on gender identity.

周二（11月3日），在休斯敦，投票者否决了一项被称为卫生间法令的措施，这项法令意在禁止基于性别身份的歧视。

But some change is taking place because organizations believe it simply makes sense. Samuel Bass is the principal of Miraloma Elementary School in San Francisco, where restrooms for the younger grades are now all-gender, and the remaining facilities will be converted.

但是，有些机构正在进行变革，因为他们觉得那样更合情理。塞缪尔·巴斯(Samuel Bass)是旧金山米拉洛马小学(Miraloma Elementary School)的校长，现在该校低年级的卫生间都是全性别的，其他的设施也将进行改造。

“For too long in K through 12, we have asked every single student to conform to one or the other binary,” he said. “We had several students on the gender spectrum, and decided it was the right thing to do. It doesn’t affect other students. Children don’t know gender norms until we as adults teach them. With any change, parents have questions. When they realize that it’s just like it is at home, it’s not a big deal.”

他说：“有太长时间，从幼儿园到高中，我们让每位学生必须在男和女之间选择一种性别，并遵守它的行为规范。但是我们发现有几个学生不属于任何一种，所以我们认为需要做些改变。这不会影响其他学生。如果不是我们大人这样教孩子们，他们并不会知道那些所谓的性别规范。只要有改变，家长们就会产生质疑。但是当他们明白这就像在家里一样时，就会觉得也没什么大不了的。”

Many transgender people report planning their days around where and when they can go, enduring bladder infections if they hold it in, risking harassment or violence if they don’t. The Stonewall Center, an L.G.B.T. resource group at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, recently completed the first national study of college students who identify as something other than male or female. Guess what almost everyone named as the biggest issue?

很多变性者称，他们按照自己能在何时何地上厕所来安排一天的生活，如果强忍，就可能感染膀胱炎；如果不忍，就可能遭遇骚扰或暴力。前不久，马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校的LGBT资源组织石墙中心(The Stonewall Center)完成了第一份关于非传统男女性别大学生的全国调查报告。你猜猜几乎所有人都认为的最大问题是什么？

Even when the intention is inclusivity, the reality is complicated. Under the New York City Human Rights Law, people must be allowed to use the single-sex restroom consistent with their gender identity.

即使目标是包容，现实也很复杂。按照纽约市人权法，人们应该被允许使用自己认同的性别身份的单性别卫生间。

But strict plumbing codes or landmark status mean that businesses can’t just change the signage and then be in compliance. Multiple codes regulate the requirements, depending on the type of building, the year it was built and occupancy. In some cases, the code stipulates that a venue is allowed to have all-gender facilities rather than being required to do so, reflecting a shift from economic to societal considerations.

但是严格的管道施工规定或建筑物的地标身份意味着各个行业不是仅仅更改标识就能遵守法律规定，而是需要考虑多项法规的要求，包括建筑物的类型、修建年份和使用情况。在某些情况下，法律规定一个场所可以设立全性别卫生间，而不是必须这样做，反映出从经济到社会因素考虑的转变。

Broadway theaters are still grappling with the issue, but the Theater at Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles had all-gender restrooms for the red carpet premiere of the Emmy-winning television series “Transparent.” (The digital series about a father transitioning to being a woman introduced a guerrilla campaign in the lead-up to the awards in which the production company covered up gender-specific signs on the doors of single-stall restrooms in restaurants, replacing them with signage that said “Be Transparent.”)

百老汇的剧院仍在纠结这个问题，不过洛杉矶市中心的埃斯酒店剧院(Theater at Ace Hotel)为艾美奖获奖电视剧《透明家庭》(Transparent)的红毯首映礼准备了全性别卫生间（这部在流媒体上播放的电视剧讲述了一位正变性成女人的父亲的故事。在艾美奖颁奖之前，为了宣传该剧，制作公司打起了游击营销战，把餐馆单独隔间厕所门上的具体性别标识遮了起来，换成写着“透明”字样的标识）。

Public restrooms didn’t become commonplace in this country until the late 19th century. A cholera epidemic during the Civil War made people realize that it was inappropriate to throw the contents of a chamber pot out the window, and generated a deep commitment to public hygiene.

直到19世纪末，公共卫生间才在美国成为常见事物。美国内战期间的霍乱瘟疫让人们意识到，把夜壶里的脏东西倒到窗外不合适，并对公共卫生作出坚定承诺。

Ever since their introduction, restrooms have been a curious ground zero for civil rights, whether for African-Americans or people with disabilities.

从诞生之初，卫生间就出人意料地成为民权运动的一个重要战场，不管是对非裔美国人还是对残障人士来说。

Discrimination against transgender people has brought the issue into sharp new focus. But the idea of shared restrooms is not new, as fans of “Ally McBeal” will remember (even though the facilities at the Cage and Fish law firm often seemed to be commandeered for frolicking with Jon Bon Jovi or Robert Downey Jr.).

对变性人士的歧视让这个问题成为新的关注焦点。不过，共享卫生间的想法其实并不新鲜，电视剧《甜心俏佳人》(Ally McBeal)的粉丝们应该都还记得（尽管凯奇菲什律师事务所[Cage and Fish]的男女通用卫生间似乎大多被用来与乔恩·邦乔维[Jon Bon Jovi]或小罗伯特·唐尼[Robert Downey Jr.]调情）。

That fictional multi-stall restroom gets more complicated in real life, especially if it’s the only option; some places are taking the less controversial route of single-user facilities, and some are covering their bets by continuing to provide traditional male or female restrooms, too.

该剧中虚构的多隔间卫生间在现实生活中变得更加复杂，尤其是如果只有这一种卫生间的话。有些地方提供不太有争议的供单人使用的卫生间；另一些地方则不敢冒险，继续同时提供传统的男女分开的卫生间。

As with gender self-identification, even the language is tricky: gender-neutral, all-gender, gender-inclusive, gender-open, unisex … all are in the mix. Barnard College uses the term “Gender Inclusive” on restroom doors that also show icons of toilets and dripping faucets. (Barnard’s efforts to educate the campus included a flier that proclaimed, “We want everyone to be able to pee in peace.”)

至于性别自我认同，甚至连术语都五花八门且微妙：中性、全性别、性别包容、性别开放、男女通用……巴纳德学院(Barnard College)卫生间的门上写的是“性别包容”，另外还有马桶和滴水水龙头的图标（巴纳德在校园里发传单进行教育宣传，上面写道：“我们希望每个人都能平静地如厕”）。

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas chose a colorful commode and the words “Gender Neutral” and “Unisex,” although these terms meet with less than enthusiasm in the transgender community.

内华达大学拉斯维加斯分校(The University of Nevada, Las Vegas)采用彩色坐便器图标以及“中性”和“男女通用”等标语，不过这些说法在变性者群体中遭到冷遇。

“To me, saying gender-neutral is like saying colorblind,” said Genny Beemyn, director of the Stonewall Center. “We see gender. To deny it is to deny people’s reality. We’re trying to increase recognition of the diversity of gender rather than to erase it.”

石墙中心的主管真妮·比明(Genny Beemyn)说，“在我看来，说中性就像是说我们是色盲。我们能看到性别差异。否认它就是否认现实。我们是想让人们更多地意识到性别的多样性，而不是抹杀它。”

The term “all gender” seems to be in favor. That’s what it says on restrooms at the New School in New York City, along with pictographs of the plumbing inside. “I never thought I’d be talking so much about urinals,” said Gail Drakes, director of social justice initiatives.

“全性别”这个术语似乎更受欢迎。纽约市新学院大学(New School)的卫生间就是采用这种说法，还配上了内部管道的图标。该校社会公平项目的主管盖尔·德雷克(Gail Drakes)说：“我从未想到我会就男用小便池展开这么多讨论。”

In a state not generally regarded as a bastion of progressive thinking, there are all-gender restrooms at the University of Utah. Illinois State University also decided on that signage, with a somewhat prolix addendum: “Anyone may use this restroom regardless of gender, gender identity or expression.” “We’re not changing the purpose of the facility,” said M. Shane McCreery, director of equal opportunity, ethics and access at the school, “just acknowledging that we recognize everyone and want them to be included.”

人们通常不认为犹他州是进步思想的堡垒，但犹他大学却提供全性别卫生间。伊利诺伊州立大学(Illinois State University)也采用这种说法，还加了一句冗长的解释：“无论性别、性别身份或表达，任何人都可以使用这个洗手间。”该校公平机会、道德和使用权主管M·沙恩·麦克里里(M. Shane McCreery)说：“我们不是要改变这些设施的用途，只是想承认，我们认可并包容所有人。”

It’s unsurprising that college students are pushing the agenda of all-gender access. The tectonic plates of corporate America shift more slowly. The policy at Target is that “family” restrooms suffice for now. Starbucks issued a boilerplate assertion that “a coffeehouse should be a welcoming, inviting and familiar place.” (Translation: Some locations have all-gender restrooms, and there may be more.)

大学生们在推动修建更多全性别洗手间，这并不奇怪。美国的公司改变起来就更慢。塔吉特百货公司(Target)的政策是“家庭”卫生间足以满足目前的需要。星巴克(Starbucks)发布了一句套话：“咖啡馆应该是一个让人觉得热情亲切的地方（意思就是：有些地方有全性别卫生间，可能还会有更多）”。

But Nike World Headquarters in Oregon is using a simple black-and-white image of a toilet, created by a 28-year-old self-described social justice advocate named Sam Killermann. He was motivated by the prevalence of a “Victor/Victoria” stick figure wearing a divided skirt/pants that is widely loathed by those who identify as gender nonconforming and stress that they don’t feel like half of anything.

不过，俄勒冈州的耐克全球总部(Nike World Headquarters)采用的是简单的黑白马桶图标，它是28岁的山姆·基勒曼(Sam Killermann)创作的。他自称社会公平支持者，他的创作动机是，很多非传统性别人士憎恶常见的穿着一半裙子和一半裤子的“雌雄莫辨”简笔人物画，因为他们不认为自己是任何东西的一半。

“People were terrified of this idea,” Mr. Killermann said, “and the conversation kept coming back to: What do we put on the door? I kind of snapped, not in a bad way, and did a blog post making fun of the half-woman/half-man sign, hoping it would illustrate how absurd it was and the very real issue of people being safe.”

基勒曼说：“人们讨厌这种表达，那么问题又回到了原点：我们该在卫生间门上贴什么？我有点恼火，不过我的发泄方式还不算太坏，我在博客上发了一个帖子，取笑半男半女的标识，希望它能表明这是多么荒谬，让人们明白真正的问题是人们需要安全感。”

A Brooklyn company called SmartSign, which used that hermaphrodite-ish graphic, contacted Mr. Killermann, offering to buy the rights to his toilet sign (and, by the way, he’s perfectly O.K. with being known as the toilet sign guy). He said the company could have it free. “They took that sentiment,” he said, “and one-upped me, and started giving it away.”

布鲁克林的一家名叫SmartSign的公司本来用的也是类似雌雄同体的标识，它与基勒曼联系，提出购买他的厕所标识（顺便说一句，他完全不介意被称为厕所标识男孩）。他说，这家公司可以免费使用它。他说：“他们也理解人们的那种情绪，他们比我做得更好，开始四处分发。”

So far, the company has donated the toilet sign to churches, hospitals, libraries, public school districts, food co-ops, one circus and 128 colleges.

到目前为止，该公司把这种厕所标识捐赠给了教堂、医院、图书馆、公立学校、食品合作社、一个马戏团和128所大学。

In many parts of the world, W.C. (water closet) is already a well-established all-gender sign, but there are new variations from as far away as Kenya, where the door to each restroom at the Angama Mara Safari Lodge shows boy and girl Maasai warriors.

在世界上的很多地方，WC(water closet)已经成为公认的全性别标识，但是在遥远的肯尼亚出现了一些新变体，比如安加马·马拉狩猎酒店(Angama Mara Safari Lodge)的所有卫生间门上挂的是马赛男战士和女战士图像。

The White Dog Cafe in Philadelphia had an original solution: two restrooms designated for Democrats and Republicans, another two for Pointers and Setters. (A little joke about anatomy — get it?) “Customers loved the idea,” the former owner Judy Wicks said, “although it was confusing to foreigners. Tourists from Japan, where the culture is so polite, would stand there trying to figure out where to go.”

费城的白狗咖啡馆(White Dog Cafe)想出了一个独创的解决方法：它把两个卫生间分别指定给民主党和共和党，另外两个指定给指示犬和塞特犬（这是一个关于解剖学的笑话，你看懂了吗？）这家咖啡馆的前老板朱迪·威克斯(Judy Wicks)说：“顾客们很喜欢这种标识，虽然外国人会感到迷惑。你知道日本人很讲礼貌，所以日本游客会站在那里，努力弄清该上哪个厕所。”

(Alas, the new owners removed those signs. The four restrooms now have decals of dogs with no mention of gender.)

（可惜呀，新老板们去掉了那些标识。现在的四个卫生间都贴着狗的图像，没提性别）。

There is no mistaking who can go where at the Founding Farmers restaurant in Washington, D.C.; its restroom doors read Men, Women and the Rest of Us.

在华盛顿特区的Founding Farmers餐馆，你绝不会上错厕所，它的卫生间门上写着“男人、女人和我们剩下这些人”。

“Men are generally pigs in restrooms, and women are nice and sensible,” the owner Dan Simons said. “That’s where I started. I have two restrooms right next to each other, so I labeled one ‘Women’ and the other ‘Everyone.’ Then I received a letter saying that the restrooms were discriminatory because women had their own.

这家餐馆的老板丹·西蒙斯(Dan Simons)说：“男人通常会把卫生间搞得一团糟，而女人就很好，很懂理。这启发了我。我们这儿有两个紧挨着的卫生间，我在一间门上写着‘女用’，另一间门上写着‘所有人都能用’。后来我收到一封信，说这样做带有歧视性，因为女人有自己的卫生间。”

“I realized that for some people this is a stressful topic,” he added, “and I thought: ‘Why don’t I make it clear? We need a label that says no label.’ ”

他补充说：“我发现，对有些人来说，这是个沉重的话题。所以我就想：‘我为什么不说清楚呢？我需要一个标识来表明这里没有任何标识’。”