California is making serious progress towards gender inclusive restrooms

California just passed the United State's most inclusive restroom access law among the states.

On Thursday, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that requires all public single-occupancy bathrooms in California to be gender inclusive or "universally accessible to all genders."

In addition to increasing restroom convenience for all, the bill, which will be put into effect on Mar. 1, 2017 is aimed at offering greater protection to those who identify as transgender, gender non-conforming or non-binary.

"California is charting a new course for equality,” assembly member Phil Ting, who authored the bill, said in a press release.

Though the new law does not affect multi-stall bathrooms, Ting said that restricting access to single-user restrooms based on a person's gender does not show common sense, and furthermore, "disproportionately burdens the LGBT community, women, and parents or caretakers of dependents of the opposite gender."

He also stated that access to restrooms are a "biological need" and he feels the safety, fairness and convenience that this law promotes will benefit everyone.

Access to public bathrooms has become a serious point of discussion in the battle for gender inclusivity, especially after North Carolina passed a House Bill 2 state law that legally restricted bathroom usage for transgender and gender-nonconforming people.

A 2013 study by the UCLA Williams Institute determined that 70% of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals “face serious threats when using gender-specific restrooms" including verbal and physical harassment.

In response to the current restrictions, people across the world have been showing their support by displaying "Inclusive" or "We Don't Care" bathroom signs like Jeff Bell, manager of the 21C Museum Hotel in North Carolina and the team at this year's Canadian National Exhibition.

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According to Time, more than 150 universities in the United States have instituted similar measures, including the University of California. The publication reported that earlier this week, LGBTQ rights groups highlighted the efforts of the Sacramento Kings for including 23 all-gender public restrooms in their new stadium, which opens on Oct. 1.

"This law is a simple measure that will make everyone’s lives easier," Kris Hayashi, executive director of Transgender Law Center, told Mashable via email. "Having restrooms open to all genders will mean less hassle for everyone going about their day, and will allow people who don’t fit neatly into expectations of what it looks like to be male or female to use the restroom without fear of harassment."

The press release stated that this new law is another valiant effort made by California Gov. Jerry Brown, who signed a bill back in 2013 to ensure transgender students at public schools could participate in gender-restricted school programs and use restrooms and locker rooms that coincide with their personal gender identity. Brown also signed a bill in 2011 to ensure "gender identity" and "gender expression" were added to California’s nondiscrimination laws.