New York Single-Occupancy Bathrooms Must Now Be Gender-Neutral

In New York state, a proposed bill sought to ensure that single-occupancy bathrooms are accessible to everyone, regardless of gender.

The bill required all public spaces such as schools, restaurants, or other facilities with single-occupancy bathrooms to make them gender-neutral.

It will “amend the civil rights law and the education law, in relation to single-occupancy bathroom facilities” to “designate all single-occupancy bathroom facilities in public places and all public and private schools as gender-neutral.”

The bill was not a colossal success in 2017 when it was first introduced in the Assembly by Democratic legislator Daniel J. O’Donnell, but this time there was virtually no opposition.

The Assembly first approved the measure unanimously, and then the Senate did the same with a large majority, 52 votes in favor and only 8 votes against. The bill was sponsored in the Senate by Democratic Senator Julia Salazar.

“This isn’t just about restrooms,” O’Donnell wrote in a tweet. “It’s about transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary peoples’ right to be themselves anywhere in New York State.”

The law will now take effect by the end of March 2021, 90 days after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law.

As a result, public establishments must change their signage and replace the traditional “man” and “woman” signs.

Now in New York, anyone, regardless of gender, will be able to freely access single-occupancy bathrooms.