It’s extremely upsetting to think some citizens of Minneapolis were denied access to something as simple as a safe place to urinate.

Minneapolis City Council members unanimously passed a bill Sept. 22 encouraging businesses to provide gender neutral bathrooms for transgender, transsexual, queer and other people who do not identify as simply a male or female.

According to Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition, as of March 2013, Minneapolis only had 21 businesses that supplied gender neutral bathrooms in the city.

Companies such as Refuge Bathrooms and Peeing in Peace compiled a list of these locations as a resource for those wanting the information.

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities led these efforts by creating a map of all the gender neutral bathrooms along the East and West Bank and the St. Paul campus during April 2012.

This map can be found on Google Maps using the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Ally link on the U of M homepage and can be saved it to computers or smartphones.

At Park, a gender neutral bathroom is accessible for all students in the At-Large Lab. This bathroom is available at any time during the school day for student use and is a positive start to opening up public restrooms to all.

St. Louis Park businesses should follow suit by incorporating these types of facilities in their public buildings.

Using restrooms comfortably without fear of embarrassment is a right, not a privilege and should be treated as such.