Businesses in West Hollywood have 60 days to comply with a new law requiring all single-stall restrooms to be gender-neutral and not restrict usage to a single sex.
The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that the law takes effect on Thursday with the aim of accommodating transgender and gender non-conforming people.
"I hope we can encourage other cities to adopt this," Abbe Land, a councilwoman who initiated the law, reportedly said at a meeting last month. "It's really so easy when you think about it, and I’m glad that we’re one of the cities that is moving forward on that."
The Los Angeles suburb, which has a sizable gay and transgender population, passed the ordinance in June. It doesn't apply to multiple-stall restrooms.
"Gender-specific restrooms can be unwelcoming and potentially unsafe for many people whose gender identity falls outside of traditional gender norms," said a city statement released this week.
The city said the law also will prove beneficial to "people with disabilities or with personal attendants, people with children of a different gender, and to the many people who have waited in line for a gender-specific restroom" when stalls for the opposite sex are empty.
A similar law was passed in 2006 in Washington, D.C. Philadelphia passed a measure in 2013 that requires new or renovated city-owned buildings to include gender-neutral bathrooms.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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