WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — The city of West Hollywood plans to require gender-neutral restrooms to accommodate individuals’ whose gender identity conflicts with their ascribed biological sex.
A new law that takes effect Thursday requires that all single-stall restrooms in businesses and public places must be gender-neutral.
The ordinance that takes effect on Thursday requires that restrooms with only one stall in restaurants, businesses and public places cannot restrict it to a specific sex either by signage or fixtures.
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Existing businesses have 60 days to make changes, but new ones must heed the requirements immediately.
The Los Angeles suburb, which has a sizeable gay and transgender population, passed the ordinance in June. It doesn’t apply to multiple-stall restrooms.
“Gender-specific restrooms can be unwelcoming and potentially unsafe for many people whose gender identity falls outside of traditional gender norms,” said a city statement released this week.
The city said the law also will prove beneficial to “people with disabilities or with personal attendants, people with children of a different gender, and to the many people who have waited in line for a gender-specific restroom” when stalls for the opposite sex are empty.
A similar law was passed in 2006 in Washington, D.C. Philadelphia passed a measure in 2013 that requires new or renovated city-owned buildings to include gender-neutral bathrooms.
