Gaukurinn, a bar in down town Reykjavík, has removed gender signs from their restrooms, the first bar to do so in Iceland. Sólveig Johnsen, owner and manager of the bar urges other managers to do the same.
“And not just bars and clubs but all public places. Someone has to take the first step and I’m glad that it was me. I know that some managers are worried about bad publicity but I think those worries are uncalled for – except if your client base is narrow minded,” says Sólveig.
She and her fiancé, Starri Hauksson, run the bar together and wanted to make the restrooms gender neutral to take a stand against gender duplicity.
“The idea of the two genders is obsolete. But it seems to be natural for restrooms to be gender labelled. That is probably the biggest reason behind why I wanted to do this. I wanted to take a stand against this gender duplicity and as an owner of a bar I can do something and I feel like it is my duty to do so. I feel I should do what I can To fight for equality.” FULL TEXT HERE.
