Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site hou4b.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxj!houxm!hogpc!houti!ariel!hou4b!mat 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 ,.. .,, ,,, ..,***_*.