San Diego could require all-gender restrooms on city property

San Diego District 2 City Councilmember Jennifer Campbell introduced an ordinance proposal Thursday that would require any new or significantly renovated facilities on city property — such as libraries, parks, beaches and recreation centers — to offer all-gender restrooms with clear signage.

Two years ago, California gave cities and counties the power to adopt such policies.

State law already requires existing public single-toilet stalls be all-gender. This ordinance would go a step farther by mandating an all-gender option for all newly constructed projects.

Philadelphia passed a similar ordinance in 2019.

Campbell’s policy advisor, Manuel Reyes, pitched the idea.

“Any public facility should have access because it’s a basic human necessity that all of us experience,” he said.

Reyes said restroom access is not just a matter of safety for trans people, but also of public health.

“Holding it all day” can cause urinary tract infections and dehydration, he said.

San Diego LGBT Community Center staff member Karina Piu called the proposed ordinance an active rebuke of national trends.

It stands in contrast to the bills passed in a dozen states in recent years, which require a person to use the bathroom of the sex assigned to them at birth.

President Biden put a ban on such blanket policies in April, but it faces legal challenges.

While the debate over all-gender restrooms is often focused on trans and gender non-conforming people, they’re also more accessible for caregivers of people needing restroom assistance, like small children, elderly people or people with disabilities.

“For example, a father, out with his daughter, and she has to go to the bathroom. What does he do?” Campbell said. “He doesn’t want to take her in the men’s room, and he can’t go in the ladies’ room. So having all-gender bathrooms is a good solution for everyone.”

And, they help fight a universal enemy: long bathroom lines.

Public comment at the Community and Neighborhood Services Committee meeting was overwhelmingly in support.

One commenter said she was concerned about safety, but said if the restrooms were single-stall it wouldn’t matter.

Campbell signaled the restrooms would be single-stall, saying: “That is the idea.”

Several more public commenters used the topic to ask the committee to address what they saw as a larger issue: the inadequate number of public restrooms in the city overall, which grand juries have repeatedly recommended to help mitigate public outbreaks of hepatitis A, shigella, and COVID-19.

The committee unanimously directed city staff to draft the ordinance.

Reyes said some of the first affected projects would be the expansion of the Ocean Beach Library, the upcoming rebuild of the San Carlos Library, and the Ocean Beach Pier rebuild.