Amid a bevy of parental notification policies appearing in California school districts — policies that compel school staff to inform parents if their child may be transgender — a new law will require the state’s public schools to ensure gender-neutral restrooms are accessible for students in the coming years.
Signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom over the weekend, Senate Bill 760 requires each school district, as well as charter schools and county education offices, to provide at least one gender-neutral bathroom for students by July 2026.
Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, said the legislation came after he heard from a constituent with a transgender high school-age child who had expressed challenges with using the restroom. That student is part of a working group formed by the Orange County Department of Education that focuses on access to gender-neutral restrooms, the catalyst for the bill, he said.
“This became an issue to the point where this would accrue not only anxiety and emotional challenges but also the physical problems as well,” said Newman.
“It is about solving a problem, a problem that affects a lot of young people,” he said. “It is hard enough to be in high school and walk through adolescence — even more with the additional challenges of being in this community. And it is not just going to the bathroom, it is this continual worry about being harassed, outed or stigmatized in some way.”
This new law is not about ideology, said Newman, but basic convenience for students.
“The one thing I found encouraging about this process when moving through the legislature was that it did not get caught up in a lot of the controversy that is currently happening in schools with the LGBTQ+ community. It had bipartisan support and the discussions regarding this bill were refreshingly absent of the opposite strides regarding these issues,” said Newman.
Several school districts in Southern California in recent months have adopted what’s been called…
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