MISSOULA — On Thursday, House Bill 121 took effect restricting bathroom access to sex assigned at birth.
With thousands of bathroom stalls on campus, the University of Montana (UM) had to make some sign swaps to comply with the new law.
"What that means here at the University of Montana is we have changed the bathroom signage for 7 of our restrooms. It impacts about 38 stalls," UM Director of Strategic Communications Dave Kuntz told MTN.
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Bathrooms on campus, formerly with 'all gender' signs, have now been switched to either male or female.
"These are restrooms that do have single-use stalls where you can go in and lock the door, but to be in compliance with the law, those changes were made," Kuntz said.
Due to a directive from the Commissioner of Higher Education, changes were made in Eck Hall, the UC (including the Branch Center), Mansfield Library, Law School, Health Science, MMAC, and PARTV. However, there will be no changes in the dorms.
"The University of Montana is a public institution, so we'll follow those laws," Kuntz stated.
The University of Montana has around 11,000 and even though changes were just made campus staff have already heard mixed reactions.
"We have some students who are super frustrated, but we also have some students who are supportive of the law," Kuntz said.
For those with concerns, UM does have a Title IX office with people ready to discuss the situation.
"If students do feel that there is discrimination or harassment, we have processes in places there that they can work through to be able to get that remedy that they need," Kuntz explained.
If someone prefers to use a bathroom without specific signage, the university still has many of those available.
"There's still numerous options in most of the buildings that we have here on campus," Kuntz said.
Additionally, Missoula County as a branch of government also had to become compliant with HB 121.
With many buildings all around the county, the administration is focusing on public-use restrooms; making sure those are up to the new law's standards.
In Missoula, three county government buildings — the courthouse, health department, and county offices — have been top priority as they see the most foot traffic from the public.
People use those buildings constantly to get permits and conduct appointments.
Bathrooms in those facilities are being looked at to ensure proper signage or occupancy.
"What we're doing is kind of determining what our current level of signage is and whether that meets the kind of reasonableness that's, contemplated in that bill, and or whether we need to make modifications that could look like things, from changing like multi-person restrooms into single-use restrooms through a lock, for example," Missoula County Chief Administrative Officer Chris Lounsbury told MTN.
As the weather gets nicer, the county is focusing on areas with frequent access — the Fairgrounds, Fort Missoula, and Marshall Mountain — ensuring all of those public spaces follow the law.
