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Hub AI
Bathroom bill AI simulator
(@Bathroom bill_simulator)
Hub AI
Bathroom bill AI simulator
(@Bathroom bill_simulator)
Bathroom bill
A bathroom bill is the common name for legislation or a statute that defines access to public toilets by gender or transgender identity. Bathroom bills affect access to sex-segregated public facilities for an individual based on a determination of their sex as defined in some specific way, such as their sex as assigned at birth, their sex as listed on their birth certificate, or the sex that corresponds to their gender identity. A bathroom bill can either be inclusive or exclusive of transgender individuals, depending on the aforementioned definition of their sex.
Proponents of the bills argue that such legislation is necessary to maintain privacy, protect modesty held by most cisgender people, prevent voyeurism, assault, molestation, and rape, and ensure psychological comfort. Critics of the bills, including advocacy groups and researchers, argue that such legislation does not enhance safety for cisgender people and may increase risks for transgender and gender non-conforming cisgender people. The UCLA's Williams Institute has tracked prevalence of crimes in bathrooms since the passage of various protections for the transgender population and has found that there has been no significant change in the number of crimes. Organizations such as the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics have expressed opposition to trans-exclusive bathroom bills, citing concerns about their impact on public health and safety.
Moreover, Vox found that "there's no evidence that nondiscrimination laws — and other policies that also let trans people use the bathroom for their gender identity — lead to sexual assault in bathrooms and locker rooms" and Media Matters "confirmed with experts and officials in 12 states and 17 school districts with protections for trans people that they had no increases in sex crimes after they enacted their policies".
The film Growing Up Coy documented a landmark 2013 case in which the Colorado Civil Rights Division ruled in favor of allowing transgender six-year-old Coy Mathis to use the girls' bathroom at her elementary school in Fountain, Colorado. The case has been credited with setting off a wave of bathroom bills across the United States in the years following. In 2016, guidance was issued by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education stating that schools which receive federal money must treat a student's gender identity as their sex (for example, in regard to bathrooms). This policy was revoked by the first Trump administration in 2017.
As of July 1, 2025, bathroom restrictions on transgender individuals are in effect in 19 U.S. states:
As of April 12, 2025, two bathroom bills have passed one state legislative chamber and are currently under consideration; one is awaiting gubernatorial review after passing both chambers, and another has passed one chamber:
The National Center for Transgender Equality, an LGBTQ advocacy group, calls these bills discriminatory.
From March 22, 2023, to June 30, 2025, Senate File 482 created an exception to Iowa's public accommodations law by permitting both public and private K–12 schools to restrict access to restrooms and changing areas based on students’ biological sex, as listed on their original birth certificate issued at or near the time of birth. The law specified that such policies did not constitute discrimination under the Iowa Civil Rights Act, which at the time still included gender identity as a protected class.
Bathroom bill
A bathroom bill is the common name for legislation or a statute that defines access to public toilets by gender or transgender identity. Bathroom bills affect access to sex-segregated public facilities for an individual based on a determination of their sex as defined in some specific way, such as their sex as assigned at birth, their sex as listed on their birth certificate, or the sex that corresponds to their gender identity. A bathroom bill can either be inclusive or exclusive of transgender individuals, depending on the aforementioned definition of their sex.
Proponents of the bills argue that such legislation is necessary to maintain privacy, protect modesty held by most cisgender people, prevent voyeurism, assault, molestation, and rape, and ensure psychological comfort. Critics of the bills, including advocacy groups and researchers, argue that such legislation does not enhance safety for cisgender people and may increase risks for transgender and gender non-conforming cisgender people. The UCLA's Williams Institute has tracked prevalence of crimes in bathrooms since the passage of various protections for the transgender population and has found that there has been no significant change in the number of crimes. Organizations such as the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics have expressed opposition to trans-exclusive bathroom bills, citing concerns about their impact on public health and safety.
Moreover, Vox found that "there's no evidence that nondiscrimination laws — and other policies that also let trans people use the bathroom for their gender identity — lead to sexual assault in bathrooms and locker rooms" and Media Matters "confirmed with experts and officials in 12 states and 17 school districts with protections for trans people that they had no increases in sex crimes after they enacted their policies".
The film Growing Up Coy documented a landmark 2013 case in which the Colorado Civil Rights Division ruled in favor of allowing transgender six-year-old Coy Mathis to use the girls' bathroom at her elementary school in Fountain, Colorado. The case has been credited with setting off a wave of bathroom bills across the United States in the years following. In 2016, guidance was issued by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education stating that schools which receive federal money must treat a student's gender identity as their sex (for example, in regard to bathrooms). This policy was revoked by the first Trump administration in 2017.
As of July 1, 2025, bathroom restrictions on transgender individuals are in effect in 19 U.S. states:
As of April 12, 2025, two bathroom bills have passed one state legislative chamber and are currently under consideration; one is awaiting gubernatorial review after passing both chambers, and another has passed one chamber:
The National Center for Transgender Equality, an LGBTQ advocacy group, calls these bills discriminatory.
From March 22, 2023, to June 30, 2025, Senate File 482 created an exception to Iowa's public accommodations law by permitting both public and private K–12 schools to restrict access to restrooms and changing areas based on students’ biological sex, as listed on their original birth certificate issued at or near the time of birth. The law specified that such policies did not constitute discrimination under the Iowa Civil Rights Act, which at the time still included gender identity as a protected class.