{"id":32549,"date":"2026-07-30T10:59:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T14:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=32549"},"modified":"2026-07-30T10:59:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T14:59:17","slug":"boys-and-girls-in-the-same-bathroom-under-new-california-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/07\/boys-and-girls-in-the-same-bathroom-under-new-california-law","title":{"rendered":"Boys and Girls in the Same Bathroom Under New California Law"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This school year will see a new California law that requires schools to provide mixed-gender bathrooms. SB 760, authored by then-state Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, requires schools to include at least one \u201call-gender\u201d restroom. Supporters have framed the bill as a way to protect trans students from bullying, while detractors have expressed concerns over the law\u2019s apparent lack of concern from protecting biological girls. The law also mandates that restrooms start providing menstrual products starting at third grade.<\/p>\n

The all-gender bathrooms can be either single stall or multi-stall and must be unlocked at all times and easily accessible. The California Department of Education (CDE) released a webpage specifically for information on \u201cAll Access Restrooms.\u201d The page offers design plans for schools, details on laws and regulations, and resources. The website also notes that while current state law permits separated gendered bathrooms (i.e. bathrooms specifically for boys and bathrooms specifically for girls) the aim is \u201cshifting from multi-user gendered restrooms and single-user all-gender restrooms to offering blocks of restroom facilities for all students.\u201d So, while the law only requires single-user all-gender bathrooms at this time, there are those who hope to expand to bathrooms where boys and girls in schools are going into the same bathroom at once. The CDE justified the law, stating its purpose is so that trans students are \u201cable to access restrooms safely and without fear of shame or stigma affects student health, learning, attendance, and school climate for all students.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the law currently stands, Greg Burt, Vice President of the conservative California Family Council, noted that parents need to find out whether their school is adopting a more conservative or progressive approach to bathroom designs. \u201cHow each school fulfills this new requirement is entirely up to the local school board. A conservative district might simply relabel a single-occupancy nurse\u2019s bathroom and call it done. A progressive district could use this law as a green light to convert entire multi-stall restroom facilities to mixed-sex use,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cParents need to find out right now what their district is planning.\u201d The California Family Council encourages parents to reach out to their school boards early in order to influence the type of all-gender bathroom their district invests in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This school year will see a new California law that requires schools to provide mixed-gender bathrooms. SB 760, authored by then-state Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, requires schools to include at least one \u201call-gender\u201d restroom. Supporters have framed the bill as a way to protect trans students from bullying, while detractors have expressed concerns over the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":32551,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBoys and Girls in the Same Bathroom Under New California Law<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A new California law requires mixed-gender bathrooms in every school. Parents are urged to act before their district decides how far to go.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/07\/boys-and-girls-in-the-same-bathroom-under-new-california-law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Boys and Girls in the Same Bathroom Under New California Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new California law requires mixed-gender bathrooms in every school. Parents are urged to act before their district decides how far to go.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/07\/boys-and-girls-in-the-same-bathroom-under-new-california-law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beliefnet News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-30T14:59:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2026\/07\/Unisex-Bathroom_credit-Adobe-Stock.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cecilia Buchanan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Boys and Girls in the Same Bathroom Under New California Law","description":"A new California law requires mixed-gender bathrooms in every school. 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