‘Although the number of participants remains small, gender-neutral housing has gained attention as the final step in the integration of student housing’ according to the Los Angeles Times. Started ‘mainly as a way to accommodate gay, bisexual and transgender students’, it is the latest iteration of a liberalizing trend that began forty years ago.

In the 1970s, many U.S. colleges moved from having only single-sex dormitories to providing coed residence halls, with male and female students typically housed on alternating floors or wings. Then came coed hallways and bathrooms, further shocking traditionalists. Now, some colleges allow undergraduates of opposite sexes to share a room.

Most schools say they discourage couples from participating, citing emotional and logistical problems of breakups. Officials say most heterosexuals in the programs are platonic friends.

Officials at the Assn. of College & University Housing Officers – International say the trend has accelerated, but they don’t expect most schools to adopt it. Experts note that most students prefer a same-sex roommate, and some colleges are reluctant to antagonize parents, legislators and donors who view the option as immoral or even dangerous.

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