Mayor Bill de Blasio has signed an order saying people visiting New York City facilities must be able to use restrooms or locker rooms consistent with their gender identity.
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New York City’s move comes a week after South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard vetoed a bill that would have made the state the first to limit transgender students to using a bathroom or locker room that corresponds with their birth gender.
De Blasio said Monday that it “was a silly thing to do”.
A transgender discrimination study by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force found that 22 percent of respondents said they have been denied equal treatment by a government agency or official.
NY will now allow a person of any gender to choose whether to use a men’s or women’s bathroom or locker room in all municipal properties, acceding to the demands of transgender advocates.
“Access to bathrooms and other single-sex facilities is a fundamental human right that should not be restricted or denied to any individual”, de Blasio said. “Access to the ladies bathroom is my right as a transgender woman, as a human being”, Garcia said.
The executive order places the city in line with recent legal guidance issued by the New York City Commission on Human Rights that says any employer, housing provider or public accommodation that denies access to single sex bathrooms based on gender identity may face prosecution for violating the city’s Human Rights Law.
City public schools already have separate rules allowing students to use restrooms according to their gender identity. A similar law was passed previous year in Houston, Texas, but was rejected by voters in the fall.
“New York City is the birthplace of the fight for LGBT rights, and we continue to lead in that fight so every New Yorker can live with dignity”, de Blasio said.
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