Panel OKs Bill Increasing Public Toilets for Women

A Senate committee Wednesday approved legislation requiring the installation of additional restrooms for women at heavily attended public facilities, such as concert halls and sports stadiums.

Approval occurred after witnesses--including Los Angeles television personality Yolanda Nava, wife of the bill’s author, Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles)--recited to the Health and Human Services Committee their experiences of waiting in long lines at women’s restrooms while missing part of a performance or other entertainment event.

Nava testified that at a football game at the Rose Bowl a couple of years ago the lines waiting to use the women’s toilets were so long that she and others decided “to use the men’s room, where there were no lines.” She said the men didn’t appear to mind their presence.

Many Would Benefit

“More than half the population would benefit from this measure,” Nava said.

Torres and his supporters maintain that restrooms for men and women in large public facilities often are about the same size. However, because more urinals than commodes can fit into the same space, women and their children suffer longer delays in gaining access.

The measure, approved on a 6-0 vote and sent to the Appropriations Committee, would write into law advisory uniform plumbing guidelines that would recommend the ratios of toilets, urinals and sinks to the number of people attending an event at a public or private entertainment facility.

Public and Private

The standards would apply to public and private construction and to remodeled restrooms starting next Jan. 1. Exempted would be hotels, restaurants and schools.

Called the women’s “restroom equity bill,” the legislation would require, for example, that a theater, convention hall or auditorium holding 400 people would have to provide eight toilets for women and three toilets and three urinals for men.

Facilities holding in excess of 400 people would add two toilets for each additional 300 women and one toilet for each additional 500 men. If a facility contained up to 600 men, four urinals would be added. For those over 600, one urinal would be added for each additional 300 men.