Should NH repeal the requirement that larger restaurants have separate bathrooms for each sex?

Rep. Dan Hynes is sponsoring a 2018 bill that would repeal the requirement that larger restaurants have separate bathrooms for each sex.

Current state law requires restaurants designed to serve 25 or more people, and any food establishments that serve alcohol, to segregate toilets by sex.

Why separate bathrooms by sex?

An alternative to sex-segregated bathrooms is all single-stall, gender neutral restrooms.

Unisex, private bathrooms give men, women, transgender individuals, families, and people with disabilities all equal access to the same bathroom facilities.

This new law would also not prevent restaurants from choosing to still segregate bathrooms by sex; it would simply allow restaurants to choose gender-neutral alternatives.

A reason for the state law?

Opponents of the bill argue that bathrooms should be segregated by sex to protect the privacy and safety of women.

Some opponents argue that this bill is prompted by a minority of transgender individuals in New Hampshire, and the state should not place their interests above the interests the rest of the public may have in sex-segregated bathrooms.

Click here to learn more about the debate over transgender rights in New Hampshire.

Do you think NH should repeal the requirement that larger restaurants have separate bathrooms for each sex? Share your opinion in the comments below.