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The most populous
U.S. state already bars discrimination against transgender
people, including in public restrooms. The measure by state
Assemblyman Phil Ting, a Democrat from San Francisco, goes
farther, saying that single-use restrooms should not be reserved
for one sex.
"Restrooms are a necessity of life, making equal access to them
a civil rights issue," Ting said in a press statement.
The measure passed on a 55-19 vote. A date has not been set for
the Senate to consider the bill.
Supporters have said that in addition to protecting transgender
or gender fluid people, the bill would also cut down waiting
time at single-occupancy public restrooms by allowing anyone to
use facilities previously reserved for men or women.
The bill came during a nationwide furor over a law passed by the
state of North Carolina requiring people to use restrooms
consistent with their biological sex.
On Monday, a fight between the Obama administration and North
Carolina over that law escalated as both sides sued each other,
trading accusations of civil rights violations and government
overreach.
The U.S. Justice Department's complaint asked a federal district
court in North Carolina to declare that the state is violating
the 1964 Civil Rights Act and order it to stop enforcing the
ban.
North Carolina's Republican governor, Pat McCrory, and the
state's secretary of public safety sued the U.S. agency in a
different federal court in North Carolina, accusing it of
"baseless and blatant overreach."
(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Richard Chang)
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