Mayor De Blasio: Transgender New Yorkers Can Use All City Bathrooms

Pictured: a gender-neutral bathroom sign at the Baby Wale restaurant in Washington, D.C. Photo by Ted Eytan

NEW YORK CITY, NY — An executive order signed Monday by NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio gives transgender individuals access to all city-owned, single-sex bathrooms and facilities corresponding to their gender identity.

Transgender men and women will not be required to document or prove their gender identity in any way before using those facilities, De Blasio's office said.

"Access to bathrooms and other single-sex facilities is a fundamental human right that should not be restricted or denied to anyone," the mayor said in a statement.

The New York City Commission on Human Rights had already announced that landlords, employers, and places of public accommodation in the city cannot discriminate based on gender identity.

De Blasio's office estimates that 25,000 transgender and/or gender non-conforming individuals live in New York.

In announcing the executive order, the mayor's office cited a 2011 survey conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality. The survey found that 22 percent of transgender respondents reported being denied access to appropriate bathroom facilities at work, while 26 percent said they had been denied bathroom access at school.