California Gov. Signs a bathroom bill in favor of queer people

California Governor Jerry Brown signed the most progressive bathroom access bill in the country yesterday, a clear win for queer groups after more than 100 anti-LGBT bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the country this year alone.

AB 1732 requires that all single-occupancy restrooms in businesses, government buildings, and public places be accessible to all genders. The bill was authored by Assembly member Phil Ting and supported by Equality California, the Transgender Law Center, and the California National Organization of Women.

“Restricting access to single-user restrooms by gender defies common sense and disproportionately burdens the LGBT community, women, and parents or caretakers of dependents of the opposite gender,” Ting said.  “Bathroom access is a biological need.  This law will ensure more safety, fairness, and convenience access for everyone.”

AB 1732 was passed by the California legislature and signed by Gov. Brown with little controversy, a sharp contrast to the political and economic chaos in North Carolina caused by HB 2 earlier this year. North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory has stood by the bill and his statements about how transgender folks pose a threat to women and children, despite local and international condemnation. The state has also lost more than $400 million in revenue as businesses and organizations refuse to align themselves with discrimination or put themselves at risk for lawsuits.

These types of measures being pushed by conservatives are dangerous because they are hiding hatred behind the language of “common sense.” Pat McCrory and other bigots aren’t making things safer for women and children.

While California is a large state and a political heavyweight in the U.S., this bill won’t change the lives of millions of queer Americans. More local and state governments need to pass bills like AB 1732 and make it understood that queer folks have the right to public spaces, including the bathrooms that match their gender identities.