Mayor de Blasio signed an executive order Monday requiring workers in city-owned buildings to let people use bathrooms based on their gender identity, regardless of their anatomy.
The executive order, which seeks to clarify existing rules issued by the city’s Commission on Human Rights, also mandates training for municipal workers on the policy, which is designed to help 25,000 transgender New Yorkers.
“We think defending the rights of one community is defending the rights of all communities,” de Blasio said right before signing the order, which goes into effect immediately.
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He spoke at the Chelsea Recreation Center in Manhattan, surrounded by cheering LGBT activists.
“As someone who at one point would not stay outside for more than four hours for fear of not having access to public accommodations … I understand the impact of this executive order,” said Sean Coleman, the executive director of the Bronx-based LGBT advocacy group Destination Tomorrow.
The order says that no one can be denied access to any men’s or ladies’ room that corresponds with their gender identity, and should not be required to provide any documentation of his or her gender.
It applies to city-owned buildings — including public parks, recreation centers, and agency offices.
The order includes locker room as well as restrooms.
It does not apply to private businesses, but the Commission on Human Rights last year ruled that any public accommodation that denies someone the right to the facilities because of his or her gender identification could be in violation of city anti-discrimination laws.
“The executive order will make loud and clear that New York City is a city for us all: cisgender, transgender, non-binary,” Carmelyn Malalis, commissioner of the Human Rights Commission said.
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“Cisgender” is a term for the vast majority of folks who identify with the sex they were born with, while “non-binary” means someone who doesn’t fit the definition of their birth gender.
De Blasio said the order shows what true “New York values” are — a dig at Republican White House contender Ted Cruz, who used the term with derision.
“New York values are needed right now. New York values are important right now,” de Blasio said.
