Bill Text: CA AB1998 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Assembly Bill 1998

CA State Legislature page for AB1998

Introduced

Bill Title: Discrimination: sex and gender: intimate spaces.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Introduced) 2026-02-18 - From printer. May be heard in committee March 20. [AB1998 Detail]

Download: California-2025-AB1998-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1998

Introduced by Assembly Member Castillo

February 17, 2026

An act to amend Section 51 of the Civil Code, relating to discrimination.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1998, as introduced, Castillo. Discrimination: sex and gender: intimate spaces.

Existing law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, provides that all persons within the jurisdiction of this state are entitled to full and equal accommodations in all business establishments regardless of their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status. Existing law, for purposes of this provision, defines “sex” to include, but does not limit it to, a person’s gender. Existing law further defines “gender” to mean sex, and includes a person’s gender identity and gender expression, as the latter is defined. Existing law prohibits the act from being construed to require any construction, alteration, repair, structural or otherwise, or modification of any sort whatsoever, beyond that construction, alteration, repair, or modification that is otherwise required by other provisions of law, to any new or existing establishment, facility, building, improvement, or any other structure, or to augment, restrict, or alter in any way the authority of the State Architect to require construction, alteration, repair, or modifications that the State Architect otherwise possesses pursuant to other laws.

This bill would include in the provision regarding full and equal business accommodations the characteristics of gender identity and gender expression, as defined, and make corresponding changes in existing law. The bill would delete the above definitions of “sex” and “gender” and, instead, define “sex” to mean an individual’s immutable biological sex, including either female or male, as further defined. The bill would require that accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments related to intimate spaces be separated on the basis on sex, irrespective of gender identity or gender expression. The bill would define “intimate spaces” to include bathrooms, showers, changing rooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms, and any other area in which an individual would have a reasonable expectation of privacy from the opposite sex. The bill would authorize single-occupancy intimate bathrooms to be gender neutral. The bill would make related legislative findings and declarations.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) California has a continuing interest in preventing discrimination. In keeping with that history, California recognizes the balancing of rights that must occur when protecting against discrimination based upon sex, on the one hand, and gender identity on the other. At times, providing equal protections collide.

(2) Sex is immutable and cannot be changed. Gender identity is fluid, and there is no ability for a commercial enterprise to determine if an individual’s claim of a gender identity is sincere or is a pretext to obtain access to the opposite sex’s intimate spaces.

(3) In recent years, male individuals who have adopted nonbinary or transgender identities have been in women’s intimate spaces where female individuals of all ages are in various states of undress. Some male individuals have also been naked with their male genitals exposed. Some of these male individuals are convicted sex offenders, such as the individual who used the women’s only spa at the Korean Wi Spa in Los Angeles, and other individuals are convicted female abusers, such as the individual who used the women’s changing facilities at Gold’s Gym in Los Angeles. Exposed naked male bodies in women’s changing rooms in which children are present have been reported at Bay Area YMCA facilities.

(b) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to require sex-separated intimate spaces, except where a gender neutral facility is a single occupancy.

SEC. 2.

Section 51 of the Civil Code is amended to read:

51.

(a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the Unruh Civil Rights Act.

(b) All persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.

(c) This section shall not be construed to confer any right or privilege on a person that is conditioned or limited by law or that is applicable alike to persons of every sex, color, race, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status, or to persons regardless of their genetic information.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any construction, alteration, repair, structural or otherwise, or modification of any sort whatsoever, beyond that construction, alteration, repair, or modification that is otherwise required by other provisions of law, to any new or existing establishment, facility, building, improvement, or any other structure, nor shall anything in this section be construed to augment, restrict, or alter in any way the authority of the State Architect to require construction, alteration, repair, or modifications that the State Architect otherwise possesses pursuant to other laws.

(e) For purposes of this section:

(1) “Disability” means any mental or physical disability as defined in Sections 12926 and 12926.1 of the Government Code.

(2) “Gender expression” means an individual’s appearance and behavior, whether or not stereotypically associated with the individual’s sex.
~~(2)~~

(3) (A) “Genetic information” means, with respect to any individual, information about any of the following:

(i) The individual’s genetic tests.

(ii) The genetic tests of family members of the individual.

(iii) The manifestation of a disease or disorder in family members of the individual.

(B) “Genetic information” includes any request for, or receipt of, genetic services, or participation in clinical research that includes genetic services, by an individual or any family member of the individual.

~~(3)~~

(4) “Medical condition” has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (i) of Section 12926 of the Government Code.

~~(4)~~

(5) “Race” is inclusive of traits associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles. “Protective hairstyles” includes, but is not limited to, such hairstyles as braids, locs, and twists.

~~(5)~~

(6) “Religion” includes all aspects of religious belief, observance, and practice.

~~(6)~~

(7) (A) “Sex” ~~includes,~~ means an individual’s immutable biological sex, either female or male, defined as follows:

(i) “Female” means an individual who naturally has, had, will have, or would have, but for a congenital anomaly or intentional or unintentional disruption, a reproductive system that produces, transports, and utilizes the large gamete, or ova, for fertilization.
(ii) “Male” means an individual who naturally has, had, will have, or would have, but for a congenital anomaly or intentional or unintentional disruption, a reproductive system that produces, transports, and utilizes the small gamete, or sperm, for fertilization.

(B) “Sex” also includes, but is not limited to, pregnancy, childbirth, or medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth. “Sex” also includes, but is not limited to, a person’s gender. “Gender” means sex, and includes a person’s gender identity and gender expression. “Gender expression” means a person’s gender-related appearance and behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth.

~~(7)~~

(8) “Sex, gender identity, gender expression, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status” includes any of the following:

(A) Any combination of those characteristics.

(B) A perception that the person has any particular characteristic or characteristics within the listed categories or any combination of those characteristics.

(C) A perception that the person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any particular characteristic or characteristics, or any combination of characteristics, within the listed categories.

~~(8)~~

(9) “Sexual orientation” has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (s) of Section 12926 of the Government Code.

(f) A violation of the right of any individual under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ~~(Public Law 101-336)~~ (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.) shall also constitute a violation of this section.

(g) Verification of immigration status and any discrimination based upon verified immigration status, where required by federal law, shall not constitute a violation of this section.

(h) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the provision of services or documents in a language other than English, beyond that which is otherwise required by other provisions of federal, state, or local law, including Section 1632.

(i) (1) Notwithstanding any provision of this section, accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments related to intimate spaces shall be separated on the basis on sex, irrespective of gender identity or gender expression.
(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), “intimate spaces” includes bathrooms, showers, changing rooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms, and any other area in which an individual would have a reasonable expectation of privacy from the opposite sex.
(3) Single-occupancy intimate bathrooms may be gender neutral.
(4) Nothing in this act prohibits intimate spaces for use by families if sex-separated spaces are also available for both sexes.