SPRINGFIELD, Illinois- On Tuesday, May 21, The Illinois House passed a bill that requires all single-occupancy public restrooms to be designated gender-neutral, now it goes to Gov. Pritzker for final signature.
The Illinois Senate passed the measure in April 2019, so Governor Pritzker’s approval of the bill is the last hurdle to Illinois becoming the fourth state to establish gender-neutral restroom laws.
The specific language of the bill states that "every single-occupancy restroom in a place of public accommodation or public building shall be identified as all-gender and designated for use by no more than one person at a time or for family or assisted use."
If approved by Gov. Pritzker the new law would also require that every single-occupancy restroom have exterior signage not indicating any specific gender (rather than the previous version of the bill that required exterior signage indicating "all-gender" or "gender-neutral").
This includes all bathrooms already built or that will be built in Illinois.
Sponsors of the bill include:
Senate Sponsors
Sen. Melinda Bush, Ram Villivalam, Ann Gillespie, Laura M. Murphy, Cristina Castro and Robert Peters
House Sponsors
(Rep. Sam Yingling - Daniel Didech - Jonathan Carroll, Elizabeth Hernandez, Diane Pappas, Terra Costa Howard, Anne Stava-Murray, Anna Moeller, Joyce Mason, Theresa Mah and Barbara Hernandez)
