DNC features 'gender-neutral prayer room,' repurposed 'all-gender' women's rooms
The Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, offered a "gender-neutral prayer room" with Islamic prayer mats and also appears to have repurposed several women's rooms at the venue as "all-gender."
According to a DNC map of the convention at Chicago's United Center, one "all-gender restroom" is on each of the four levels of the arena that serves as home to the Chicago Bulls. However, a different map of the venue suggests they are typically women's restrooms.
Other bathroom facilities that circle the arena are grouped in the typical fashion of men's and women's restrooms.
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Washington Times correspondent Susan Ferrechio reported that a women's restroom in the nearby press filing center at Advocate Center had also been repurposed into an all-gender facility.
The bathroom situation at the DNC comes as Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate Gov. Tim Walz, faces scrutiny for signing a 2023 state education law in Minnesota that potentially mandated free tampons in public school boys' bathrooms.
A "gender-neutral prayer room" is also provided on the concourse level of the United Center for the DNC, along with prayer rooms exclusive to men and women.
Footage circulating on X showed that the curtained gender-neutral prayer room features Islamic prayer mats and a table with Clorox wipes, though no Christian or Jewish iconography is present.
The DNC arena is outfitted with a “gender neutral prayer room” pic.twitter.com/oA9F18VLSE
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) August 20, 2024
The set-up drew scorn on social media, with many on X mocking the Democratic National Committee for its apparent attempt to accommodate both gender ideology and Islam simultaneously.
"This has to be a joke," journalist Miranda Devine tweeted.
The 2016 Democratic National Convention at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, also made headlines when it featured a women's room repurposed with a makeshift sign temporarily designating it as an all-gender restroom during the convention.
A woman named Nikki Nice, who spoke to The Guardian at the time, noted that she and her friend shared the bathroom with Jesse Jackson, who emerged from a stall as they were coming in.
"We were like: ''Ahhh,'" Nice said. "Just experiencing Reverend Jesse Jackson coming out of a stall — that just speaks everything about what an all-gender restroom really is about. So I'll take that any day."
Not all who used the all-gender restroom that year were happy about it, with one woman complaining to The Cut about urine on the toilet seats after men had used it.
Other aspects of this year's DNC this year have raised eyebrows, including a Planned Parenthood van that is offering free vasectomies and chemical abortion drugs.
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com
