California Bill Allows Transgender Students in Opposite-Sex Facilities, Sports

By Lauren Leigh Noske

California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed a bill allowing students to compete on sports teams and to use facilities based on their gender preference, including whichever restroom they would like to use. Assembly Bill No. 1266 is scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2014.

California will lead the nation in support of transgender lifestyles with the legislation passed on Monday, allowing boys to use girls’ locker rooms and vice versa, among other things. Gay rights groups are backing the recent legislation, hoping that it will help to cut down on bullying transgendered students.

Those who do not want their children to share restrooms with students of the opposite sex feel that the legislation violates their child’s right to privacy. In debate over the legislation, Republican Senators protested that “a student has no burden but to declare that ‘I want to be in the boys shower or the girls shower’ that day.” They are also concerned that some male athletes would chose to dominate women’s sports if given the option.

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