Life

Where Does Your State Stand On "Bathroom Bills?"

by Mia Mercado

Feb. 23, 2017

Drew Angerer/Getty Images News/Getty Images

You’ve likely heard the news about the Trump administration rescinding federal protections for transgender students regarding the use of gendered bathrooms. So, do you know how your state stands on ‘bathroom bills?" Beyond the federal level, there are currently 12 states that have pending legislation restricting the bathroom access of transgender people — and are therefore important battlegrounds for transgender rights.

North Carolina is currently the only state in which a "bathroom bill" has passed. The initial attempt to repeal the bill failed in December. North Carolina’s legislators have also introduced a new bill that the Human Right Campaign criticizes as “doubl[ing] down on the most discriminatory provisions of North Carolina’s HB2.” Despite widespread backlash of HB2, including the North Carolina Sports Association threatening to pull NCAA bids for the next four years, legislators in over a dozen states have also introduced and tried to pass "bathroom bills."

Currently, only two states have rejected the proposed bills restricting access to bathrooms and locker rooms by transgender people: South Dakota and Virginia. (Hold for equal rights applause, even this isn't a thing we should need to applaud, because everyone having equal rights should just be the way of the world.)

In South Dakota, Governor Dennis Daugaard vetoed the bill, saying in a press conference, "Local school districts can, and have, made necessary restroom and locker room accommodations that serve the best interests of all students, regardless of biological sex or gender identity."

In Virginia, a Republican-led committee shut down the proposed "bathroom bill." The delegate who introduced the bill, Republican Robert G. Marshall, called the actions of his colleagues as “disgusting.” No word if he also called them “nasty.”

Is your state one of the 12 with a pending "bathroom bill?" Is it one of the 12 that specifically addresses schools? Check the list below. Then, make sure your representative knows how you stand on anti-trans legislation. Call them if you can. Send them postcards. At the very least, drop them an email. Make your voice heard.

Alabama

Alabama's bill would require facilities with public bathroom to comply with one of the below:

Bathrooms to be used by one individual at a time.
Bathrooms to be used by by multiple people of the same gender.
Bathrooms to be used multiple persons at once, regardless of their gender, that are staffed by an attendant at the door to monitor appropriate use and answer any questions or concerns posed by users.

Illinois

Illinois' bill defines sex as "determined by chromosomes and assigned at birth." It also specifies that transgender students may separate bathroom accommodations (aside from the specifically one-gender bathrooms) with parent permission.

Kansas

Kansas currently has two pending "bathroom bills," one in the House and one in the Senate. Both bills define sex as "determined by chromosomes and assigned at birth," the Senate's bill going further to cite a person's birth certificate as "definitive proof of sex."

These bills specifically address schools.

Kentucky

While both of Kentucky's pending "bathroom bills" have been effectively declared dead, they still have not officially been voted on or rescinded. Some components of the bills to note:

Government buildings and schools would be required to designate every multiperson bathroom as only be used by people based on their biological sex.
Schools would be required to make available alternative accommodations to transgender students, but those accommodations would not include allowing transgender students to use bathrooms of the "other sex."

These bills specifically address schools.

Minnesota

Minnesota's bill mirrors that of Kentucky's, explicitly preventing transgender students from having accommodations made that allow them to use bathrooms of the "other sex."