(SAN FRANCISCO, CA) – Legislation authored by Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) to establish the nation’s most progressive restroom access law among the states passed with unanimous support in the Assembly Committee on Business and Professions.
Ting’s AB 1732 passed 14-0, with bipartisan support. It would require single-occupancy restrooms in California businesses, government buildings, and public spaces to be identified as “all gender.”
“The unanimous support for this bill shows California is ready to lead the nation in change,” said Ting. “Restrooms access influences our ability to participate in public life. It defies common sense to restrict access to single-user restrooms by gender. ‘All gender’ signs will ensure that everyone’s rights are protected by ending problems of convenience, fairness, and safety.”
Sponsored by Equality California, the Transgender Law Center and California NOW, AB 1732 would align state law with similar restroom access laws emerging in the cities of Berkeley, Philadelphia, and Seattle.
Legislation pending in the New York State Legislature would require a “gender neutral” designation for all single-use bathrooms in state owned or operated buildings. Vermont’s State Legislature has legislation pending to require newly constructed or renovated state buildings to include “gender neutral” restrooms. In contrast, a pending bill in Indiana would make it a misdemeanor to knowingly enter a single-use restroom of the opposite sex.
Further information about AB 1732 is online at www.leginfo.ca.gov. The measure now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for further review. Here is what supporters are saying.
“This bill will greatly enhance the security and privacy of transgender people, who are often harassed or threatened in public, multi-stall restrooms, but the benefits would truly extend to virtually everyone," said Rick Zbur, Executive Director of Equality California. "Everyone appreciates greater privacy -- parents with children, nursing mothers, people with medical conditions -- and it would mean that we all would spend less time in lines for single-use restrooms."
“All Californians should have the same freedom to participate in public life, go about their day, and use the bathroom when they need it,” said Kris Hayashi, Executive Director of Transgender Law Center. “By making single-user restrooms accessible to all genders, this law will make life easier for everyone and reduce the harassment regularly experienced by transgender people and others who don’t match people’s stereotypes of what it looks like to be a man or a woman.”
“When nature calls, women frequently have to wait,” said Jerilyn Stapleton, President of California NOW. “We shouldn’t have to wait or postpone having our needs fairly met in public. Everyone should experience equal waiting time. We have universal bathroom access at home and on airplanes so why not require it in public buildings?”
“This legislation helps everyone - from caregivers with children of a different gender, to the trans community whose basic human need is under attack in other states, to anyone who's had to stand in line to get into their restroom while the other one stands empty,” said Somer Loen, President of the San Francisco Chapter of NOW. “This bill is a logical step forward to ensure safe and equitable access for a universal human need.”
"Hospitality is all about accommodation and making people feel comfortable and welcome,” said Samantha Higgins, Policy and Community Manager of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association. “This legislation just makes sense."
“AB 1732 is a common sense approach to ensuring that facilities open to the public provide equal access to restrooms,” said Abe Hajela, lobbyist for San Francisco Unified School District. “SFUSD strongly supports Assemblymember Ting’s legislative efforts in this area.”
“This small addition to the statute addresses the daily safety, health, and convenience concerns of transgender and gender non-conforming people, thereby reducing harassment and unnecessary stress many transgender people and people who don’t conform to traditional stereotypes of what men and women look like regularly experience when using a gendered restroom,” said Kevin Baker, Legislative Director, ACLU of California.
“We must change our focus from segregating access to equalizing access to this solitary room,” said Rebecca Gonzales, Director of Government Relations and Political Affairs, National Association of Social Workers. “This will enable everyone to get in and out on the same terms.”