Politics

New Vermont Law Requires Individual Bathrooms Labeled As “Gender Neutral”

REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/File Photo

Mike Brest Reporter
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Republican governor of Vermont, Phil Scott, signed a bill Friday that would require all individual occupancy bathrooms in public buildings to be labeled as “gender neutral.”

The law goes into effect July 1.

The bill passed with unanimous support in the state Senate and won with a large majority in the House. Those who chose to vote against the bill cited a desire for an exemption for religious buildings to be included.

Dana Kaplan, the executive director of Outright Vermont, told AP that the bill increases safety and “health and access for all folks.”

This bill is another development in the case for whether transgender individuals should be required to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender at birth or the one they identify with.

At the end of April, the mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey enacted similar measures via executive order. Other cities that have made bathrooms gender inclusive include Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Seattle and Austin.

Last month, the voters in Anchorage, Alaska, voted on a referendum that would’ve required people to use the restroom that aligned with one’s gender at birth, but it did not pass. They are the only city in the United States to have voted on a referendum relating to this topic.

To date, North Carolina remains the only state to pass legislation to restrict access to communal restrooms and locker rooms to that corresponding with their biological sex. The law was eventually repealed back in March of 2017.