Protecting Women’s Private Spaces Act
H.R. 1016, the Protecting Women's Private Spaces Act, would prohibit anyone from accessing or using so-called single-sex facilities on federal property unless the facility aligns with that person’s biological sex. In practice, this means restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms on federal buildings or lands (including Department of Defense facilities, the U.S. Postal Service, and other federally owned or occupied property) would be restricted to individuals whose use matches the named biological sex defined in the bill. The bill provides narrow exceptions for emergency medical personnel and law enforcement officers in specific situations (emergencies or active pursuit/investigation). The text assigns binary definitions to “biological sex,” “male,” and “female,” and does not address rights or remedies beyond these rules.
Key Points
- 1Prohibition on use of single-sex facilities on federal property not matching the individual’s biological sex.
- 2Definition of key terms: a single-sex facility includes restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms; federal property includes buildings, land, or other real property owned, leased, or occupied by federal agencies (including DoD and USPS) and certain DC/territorial properties; biological sex, male, and female are defined by specific biological criteria.
- 3Exception for emergencies: emergency medical personnel responding to a medical emergency are exempt, as are law enforcement officers in active pursuit of a suspect or as part of an active investigation.
- 4Scope is limited to federal property; does not specify penalties or private rights of action within the text provided.
- 5The definitions rely on a binary view of sex and do not explicitly address transgender, intersex, or nonbinary identities beyond how they would map to the defined biological sexes.