California Assembly Passes Gender-Neutral Bathroom Bill

You are not signed in as a Premium user; you are viewing the free version of this program. Premium users have access to full-length programs with limited commercials and receive a 10% discount in the store! Sign up for only one day for the low cost of $1.99. Click the button below.

See All Plans

SACRAMENTO (ChurchMilitant.com) - A California bill that would require all single-occupancy bathrooms in the state to be identified as gender neutral is now heading to California governor Jerry Brown.

If the bill is passed, Assembly Bill 1732 (AB1732) would force companies to make single-occupancy restrooms in businesses and public facilities accessible to all genders and gender identities, beginning on March 1, 2017. The bill was given its final approval by the California Assembly on Monday on a 53–13 vote.

The measure passed one day after U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor temporarily blocked President Barack Obama's order requiring public schools to allow students to use restrooms based on their gender identity. AB1732 builds on a law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2013 that already allows California students to do so.

The bill's author, Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), said this change will be more "accommodating" to transgender people and their parents.

"This simple bill allows single-room occupancy bathrooms to be convenient, to be fair and to really be equal for everybody," Ting stated Monday afternoon on the Assembly floor.

"California is about to move our state forward at a time where states like Kansas and North Carolina, and even a judge in Texas, are politicizing bathrooms," Ting commented.

The "bathroom blitz" has been a flashpoint in recent times, especially since North Carolina's controversial law requiring people to use bathrooms based on their biological sex.

Kris Hayashi, Executive Director of Transgender Law Center, says that the law will simply make life easier for everyone.

"Having restrooms open to all genders will mean less hassle for everyone going about their day and will allow people who don’t fit neatly into expectations of what it looks like to be male or female to use the restroom without fear of harassment," Hayashi says.

Shortly after Pope Francis' trip to Krakow, Poland for World Youth Day in late July, he spoke loudly against the idea of gender theory, calling it "ideological colonization."

"In Europe, America, Latin America, Africa and in some countries of Asia, there are genuine forms of ideological colonization taking place," he said. "And one of these — I will call it clearly by its name — is [the ideology of] 'gender.' Today children — children! — are taught in school that everyone can choose his or her sex."

"Why are they teaching this?" the Holy Father continued. "Because the books are provided by the persons and institutions that give you money. These forms of ideological colonization are also supported by influential countries. And this is terrible!"

Have a news tip? Submit news to our tip line.

We rely on you to support our news reporting. Please donate today.