Dads change diapers, too. And Monday morning, the city of Dallas took a baby step toward requiring changing tables in men's restrooms.

After a brief discussion the Dallas City Council's Quality of Life Committee agreed to send to the full council a draft ordinance that requires changing tables in all publicly accessible restrooms in restaurants, retail stores, theaters and city-owned buildings.

And that's "each and every publicly accessible restroom," said Kris Sweckard, the director of Sustainable Development and Construction Department. "Male, female, gender-neutral."

The requirement would apply only to new construction and to buildings undergoing "major renovations." Changing tables generally cost around $100, at least for lower-end models. Failure to install one would cost violators $500, according to Monday's briefing materials.

"I am absolutely in favor of this," said council member and mayoral candidate Scott Griggs, who asked his colleague and committee chair Sandy Greyson to put changing tables on the agenda. "It would be a great addition for families in the city of Dallas."

Griggs — who has three young children of his own — actually picked up the idea from new dad Chris Fox, a Dallas man who began his campaign last fall by calling council member Mark Clayton, posting to Facebook (where he amassed more than 100 comments in support) and talking to TV news. Fox said in his Facebook post that he saw his effort as "an uphill battle."

But the movement to put changing tables in all restrooms dates back years. In 2015, the effort found a very vocal and public advocate in actor Ashton Kutcher, who launched a Change.org petition to demand big-box retailers, at the very least, install changing tables in men's restrooms.

"Families are diverse, and it is an injustice to assume it's only a woman's job to handle changing diapers," Kutcher wrote on the petition. "This assumption is gender stereotyping and companies should be supporting all parents that shop at their stores equally — no matter their gender."

More than 104,300 people signed the petition.

A year later, President Barack Obama signed into law the Bathrooms Accessible in Every Situation Act — or the BABIES Act — which requires diaper-changing facilities in all restrooms in federal buildings to which the public has access. But what Dallas is considering mirrors a law passed by New York's state Legislature in April. Last spring, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he hoped the legislation — which applies to state facilities as well as restaurants, stores and movie theaters — would become "the nation's model for working parents." The law took effect in January.

But the issue went viral last fall, after Donte Palmer, a 31-year-old high-school teacher and new father in Florida took to Instagram with his plight. He posted a photo of himself in a men's room trying to change his 1-year-old son's diaper by squatting on a bathroom floor, his back against the wall.

"What's the deal with not having changing tables in men's bathroom as if we don't exist!!" he wrote. "#FLM#fatherslivesmatter clearly we do this often because look how comfortable my son is. It's routine to him!!!! Let's fix this problem!"

Some council members had concerns. For instance, some worried about forcing restaurant owners with single-stall bathrooms to install changing tables. Clayton fretted about "unintended consequences" that could come with such regulations. Council member Philip Kingston dismissed such worries: "They're not there," Kingston said, because this applies only to new builds and major rebuilds of places larger than 750 square feet, according to Sweckard.

Greyson said Dallas "like[s] to be the first to do progressive things" but wasn't certain a changing table was necessary in every bathroom in every building, especially multi-story retail outlets.

"That's a lot to ask," she said.

Greyson instead proposed signage directing patrons to restrooms with changing tables, so long as there is at least one men's room with a changing table on site. Her suggestion was added to the proposed ordinance.

In the end, council member Jennifer Staubach Gates was the lone committee member voted against sending the ordinance to the full council. She said after the committee meeting that she's not necessarily opposed to the idea; she simply wants more information before supporting it.

"We need more public input form all the different entities impacted by this, including the Greater Dallas Restaurant Association," said Gates, who represents Northwest Dallas. "It's a building code amendment, and we shouldn't do it on a whim. We should fully understand the impact. And I would like to understand the definition of a major renovation. We've done no research."