SACRAMENTO, Calif. (FOX26) — A newly introduced bill in the California Legislature would change how state law treats access to women’s and girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms, and other private facilities by defining sex in those spaces as biological and immutable.
Republican Assemblywoman Leticia Castillo introduced AB 1998, which would create an exception within the Unruh Civil Rights Act for “intimate spaces,” requiring those areas to be separated by “an individual’s immutable biological sex, including either female or male.”
Under current California law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act protects access to business establishments regardless of sex, race, religion, ancestry, national origin, and other protected classes.
The act defines “sex” to include gender identity and gender expression, allowing anyone who identifies as female or non-binary to use female intimate spaces.
The bill defines “intimate spaces” as bathrooms, showers, changing rooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms, and any area where an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy from the opposite sex.
The measure would allow single-occupancy bathrooms to remain gender-neutral.
Castillo said the bill is intended to address families’ concerns about privacy and safety.
“I authored AB 1998 because parents across California are asking for clarity and commonsense protections in intimate spaces where females deserve privacy and safety,” Castillo said. “This measure simply requires that bathrooms, locker rooms, and changing areas in businesses be separated by sex, while still allowing single-occupancy gender-neutral options.”
Protecting civil rights and protecting females are not mutually exclusive, and this bill makes sure we do both.
The bill sponsor, Our Duty attorney Erin Friday, said the proposal is overdue. “We moved from believing all women during the ‘me too’ era to believing all men who say they are women,” Friday said.
This places females in harm’s way, especially young girls.
California Family Council Vice President Greg Burt also backed the bill. “It’s time to stop the madness. Californians are tired of being held hostage to an ideology that denies biological reality and violates the privacy rights of women and girls. The sexes deserve privacy in their intimate spaces. This bill restores clarity and common sense,” Burt said.
AB 1998 has not yet been assigned to a committee. The proposal is expected to face opposition from activist groups and the Democratic supermajority in Sacramento.