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From: mat@hou4b.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.legal,net.women
Subject: Re: ERA and bathrooms
Message-ID: <1185@hou4b.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 13-Oct-84 23:44:30 EDT
Article-I.D.: hou4b.1185
Posted: Sat Oct 13 23:44:30 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 16-Oct-84 05:00:42 EDT
References: <5184@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Organization: AT&T Information Systems Laboratories, Holmdel, NJ
Lines: 41

>	1) Currently, are there federal or state laws that mandate the existence
>	of bathrooms at all (handicapped access regulations, building codes,
>	occupancy standards, etc.)?

You betcha'.  Any decent building code provides for an adaquate number of
sanitary facilities.  Obtaining such things as Certificates of Occupancy
requires that the codes be met.

>	2) If so, are there laws that expressly require that bathrooms be 
>	designated as being for one or the other sex? Are there laws that then
>	expressly prohibit members of one sex from entering bathrooms
>	designated for the use of the opposite sex? (Do these laws apply only to
>	public buildings, or to any commercial establishment, or to what?)

There are such laws at the State and Local levels.  I believe that they are
written to apply to ``public places'' -- in other words anything that is not
a residence with its own facilities.

>	3) Does the claim about the effect of the ERA rest on the supposition
>	that any such laws (from #2) would be declared void, because they make a
>	sex-based distinction between persons?

>	4) Is this a valid claim?

Got me.  'spossibl', I suppose, though I'm much more worred about other
ramifications.  I'm sorry, but I can't put the homosexuality issue out of
my mind.  Look at New York City:  various religious groups like the Salvation
Army and the Roman Catholic Church receive city funds which are used for the
exclusive purpose of housing and feeding the homeless.  Because such groups
will not ``hire'' practicing homosexuals, they shelters (which the city needs
desperately) have had to close.  ERA says nothing about homosexuality?  True.
On the other hand, one of the various Ammendments to our Constitution was
designed to give black people full citizenship.  It was circumvented by various
means for over a decade, but it WAS interpreted by the courts to give much
broader rights, privileges, and protection to CORPORATIONS.  Ammendments should
be simple, but they should also be to the point.
-- 

	from Mole End			Mark Terribile
		(scrape .. dig )	hou4b!mat
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