Assemblyman Phil Ting was shocked at how inclusive San Francisco claims to be but how hypocritical it is about bathrooms.
Transgender people lack the legal right to use the restroom they feel applies to them. To combat the access issue, Ting in January proposed AB 1732, which requires any facility with only one restroom to make it gender neutral.
“Signs restricting single-use restroom access by gender create problems of convenience, fairness and safety,” said Ting, who represents the 19th Assembly District in San Francisco.
Ting said that he believes restrictions on restrooms are unfair to those who are uncertain about their gender. He also said he believes that creating an all-gender bathrooms may create a safer place for all individuals.
Current law
California law requires public agencies to make and maintain every "water closet" for each sex in the facilities available. AB 1732 is meant to reform the law to not only allow open access to restrooms as a neutral territory but also to remove the initial idea of a bathroom for “each sex.”
The fight for gender-neutral bathrooms is not limited to just San Francisco. It has become a prevalent national issue. States such as Washington and Texas have shown support by implementing the new restrooms in schools.
While creating a safe place for all people, though,has met opposition. States such as Arizona, Illinois, and most notably Indiana have laws restricting people from using the opposite restroom. Jim Tomes, the assemblyman for the 49th District of Indiana, has proposed a bill in opposition to gender neutral restrooms.
The proposed bill by Tomes would fine anyone using the incorrect restroom $5,000 and makes entering the incorrect restroom a class A misdemeanor. Tomes said that he thinks it is incorrect to invade the privacy of those who feel uncomfortable with sharing a restroom with the other gender.
“What about the other sector of society? All through the decades women been using women’s restrooms and men have been using men’s restrooms and expect that level of privacy,” Tomes said.
Local support, opposition
AB 1732 would create gender neutral bathrooms by making public areas with one restroom enforce a gender neutral policy. The neutral gender space is intended to prevent unfairness to people who identify as transgender.
While the bill addresses the problem of certain individuals feeling discomfort when using the restroom they feel they are allowed to, it also creates an uncomfortable situation for students who do not feel comfortable sharing their private space. Gabriel Vela, a gender studies major at Chico State, said he feels that the restrooms were unnecessary.
“I don’t think people need a special bathroom and sharing one isn’t going to help. I wouldn’t feel comfortable with a gender neutral bathroom, and I don’t intend to use one,” Vela said.
While Vela opposes gender neutral bathrooms because he thinks they are unnecessary, supporter and student, Gabriel Moreno, feels that it is a step in the right direction.
“We trivialize being able to use the restroom comfortably, and even making that first step could have a big impact,” Moreno said.
All-inclusive bathroom laws are fairly new
Gender-segregated restrooms have been in place since 1887, when Massachusetts first created a law mandating separate bathrooms, according to Terry Kogan’s book “Toilet: Public Restrooms and the Politics of Sharing.”
Creating all-inclusive restrooms is a fairly new issue, with one of the first changes in California legislation coming in 2006, when the International Building Code added Section 1109.2.1. This states that a unisex toilet must be provided where six or more male and female restrooms are required.
While this article provides unisex bathrooms, it makes an exception in cases where each separate-sex bathroom has only one fixture. This allows areas with only one available restroom to refuse gender neutral bathrooms.
The next step in gender neutral restrooms came in 2013, when California amended Section 221.5 of the Education Code by passing bill AB 1266. The bill allows for students in grades K-12 to participate in sex-segregated school programs and use the restroom of the gender they identify with.
In 2015 the Personal Privacy Protection Act was proposed to make people use restrooms of their biological gender in all government buildings, as well as private businesses. This Act did not receive enough votes to be created, but it did give the funding group “Privacy for All” and like-minded people a chance to express their concerns.
Although Assembly Bill No. 1266 promotes fairness for students who may be questioning their gender identity or identify as the opposite sex, it still calls for separate bathrooms, while the proposed bill wants to eliminate the segregation.
Implementation
Creating gender-neutral bathrooms has begun at several college campuses, including UC Berkeley and Chico State. The restrooms on the campus have been well received by students and have not met opposition.
While the main focus of the non-segregated restrooms has been to promote equality and fairness for people who feel uncomfortable in choosing what restroom to use, it does allow access to everyone.
AB 1732 has left many people wondering what the next step in restroom accessibility will be. Kris Hayashi, the executive director of Transgender Law Center, said he believes the bill will begin a trend toward more rights for transgender people.
“This law will make life easier for everyone and reduce the harassment regularly experienced by transgender people. I feel that this law is only a start in promoting equality among all people,” Hayashi said.
-- by Kenta McAfee
-- by Kenta McAfee