May 9, 2016 -- For Immediate Release

California Assembly tears down 'men,' 'women,' 'boys,' 'girls' restroom signs
"If familiar 'men' and 'women' restroom signs are torn down, people will ask 'who did this?'"

(Updated May 12, 2016 to reflect new 55-19-6 vote due to Gray, Kim, and Santiago changing from not voting to voting yes, and Lackey changing from not voting to voting no.)

Sacramento, California -- A leading family values organization in California warns that "men" and "women" restroom door signs, and even "boys" and "girls" door signs, will be eliminated if a radical bill becomes law.

Today on the floor of the California State Assembly, 51 Democrats and 4 Republicans joined together to approve AB 1732, which replaces "men," "women," "boys" and "girls" signs on the doors of single-person restrooms at all private businesses, including home businesses, religious businesses, schools, church schools, and even churches.

"AB 1732 would tear down 'men' and 'women' signs and replace them with pro-transgender signs at single-occupancy restrooms," said Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, which promotes moral virtues for the common good. "There's no exemption for home businesses or religious entities. This is a vast overreach that tramples average people's constitutional rights. And ironically, this bill incentivizes small businesses to go from two restrooms to one restroom."

"Legislators supporting this radical bill either didn't know or didn't care what they're voting for," Thomasson said. "Obviously, the dozen or more Democrats who refused to support this radical bill during four previous floor sessions were told to abandon their consciences. And they ignored the real-life, reasonable concerns voiced by Assemblyman James Gallagher about how this bill tramples the values of churches, religious schools and colleges, home businesses, day care centers, senior centers, and everybody else who wants to keep restrooms safely separate between men and women, boys and girls."

Voting "yes" on AB 1732 were 51 Democrats and 4 Republicans: Democrats -- Luis Alejo, Joaquin Arambula, Toni Atkins, Richard Bloom, Susan Bonilla, Rob Bonta, Cheryl Brown, Autumn Burke, Ian Calderon, Nora Campos, Ed Chau, David Chiu, Kansen Chu, Ken Cooley, Jim Cooper, Matthew Dababneh, Tom Daly, Bill Dodd, Susan Eggman, Jim Frazier, Christina Garcia, Mike Gatto, Mike Gipson, Jimmy Gomez, Lorena Gonzalez, Richard Gordon, Adam Gray, Roger Hernandez, Chris Holden, Jacqui Irwin, Reginald Jones-Sawyer, Marc Levine, Patty Lopez, Evan Low, Kevin McCarthy, Jose Medina, Kevin Mullin, Adrin Nazarian, Patrick O'Donnell, Bill Quirk, Anthony Rendon, Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, Freddie Rodriguez, Rudy Salas, Miguel Santiago, Mark Stone, Tony Thurmond, Philip Ting, Shirley Weber, Das Williams, and Jim Wood; Republicans -- Catherine Baker, Ling Ling Chang, Young Kim, and Brian Maienschein.

Voting "no" on AB 1732 were 19 Republicans: Katcho Achadjian, Travis Allen, Frank Bigelow, William Brough, Brian Dahle, James Gallagher, Shannon Grove, Matthew Harper, Brian Jones, Tom Lackey, Eric Linder, Devon Mathis, Melissa Melendez, Jay Obernolte, Jim Patterson, Marc Steinorth, Don Wagner, Marie Waldron, and Scott Wilk.

Abstaining were 4 Republicans: Republicans -- Rocky Chavez, David Hadley, Chad Mayes, and Kristin Olsen. Absent were Democrat Eduardo Garcia and Republican Beth Gaines.  

SaveCalifornia.com analysis of AB 1732 "single-user restrooms"
What 2 key sentences mean + definition/application problems

(a) All single-user toilet facilities in any business establishment, place of public accommodation, or state or local government agency shall be identified as all-gender toilet facilities, and designated for use by no more than one occupant at a time or for family or assisted use.

This means:

1. All the "men," "women," "boys," and "girls" signs and symbols currently on single-occupancy restrooms at applicable venues must be removed.

2. "All gender" signs and symbols (could be transgender symbols) must be posted instead.

3. Small businesses that wish to save time and money can go from having two restrooms (men and women) to only one restroom ("all gender").

4. Even home businesses come under the "any business establishment" phrase.

5. "Place of public accommodation" is undefined in the bill and by default means private entities of several types. Federal law, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, says the only places of public accommodation are private entities. Under AB 1732, which private entities are included and which are excluded? Small businesses, home businesses, religious businesses, schools, church schools, churches -- where in the bill does it say who is included and who is exempt? Besides the lack of definition of "public accommodation," there is no religious exemption in AB 1732.

(c) For the purposes of this section, "single-user toilet facility" means a toilet facility with no more than one water closet and one urinal with a locking mechanism controlled by the user.

This could mean:

1. For businesses that must have restrooms -- such as food service or gas stations -- under this definition, must they now pay to install men's urinals in current women's restrooms? Why or why not, since "single-user toilet facility" is officially defined as "a toilet facility with no more than one water closet and one urinal."

2. For home businesses, must they now pay to install a men's urinal in addition to paying for and posting an "all gender" restroom sign? Again, AB 1732 defines "single-user toilet facility" as "a toilet facility with no more than one water closet and one urinal."

"AB 1732 would result in unforeseen, negative consequences," Thomasson concluded. "What woman wants a man poking his head in the restroom door that somehow didn't shut or lock? How many women want to use a urine-stained toilet seat? What conflicts will erupt among strangers from mixing or eliminating gender differences at restrooms? What lawsuits will occur? If familiar 'men' and 'women' restroom signs are torn down, people will ask 'who did this?'"

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SaveCalifornia.com is a leading West Coast nonprofit, nonpartisan organization standing strong for moral virtues for the common good. We represent children and families in the areas of marriage and family, parental rights, the sanctity of human life, religious freedom, financial freedom, and back-to-basics education.