Report of Directors
8.a
Meeting 04.12.2017

 

CITY OF JERSEY CITY
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR

CITY HALL 280 GROVE STREET I JERSEY CITY, NJ 07302
P: 201 547 5500 I F: 201 547 5442

   

 

STEVEN M. FULOP STEVEN M. FULOP
MAYOR OF JERSEY CITY . MAYOR 0F JERSEY CITY
E.O. 2017-00; March?23, 2017
Res. 17-196

EXECUTIVE ORDER OF THE MAYOR
OF THE CITY OF JERSEY CITY
ESTABLISHING GENDER NEUTRALITY IN ALL MUNICIPAL BATHROOM FACILITIES
OWNED OR MAINTAINED BY THE CITY OF JERSEY CITY

Whereas, in 2014, the Justice Department issued an opinion that the Civil Rights Act of
1964 applies to claims of discrimination based on gender identity; 

Whereas, in his 2015 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama condemned
discrimination against of women, religious minorities and people who are lesbian, gay,
bisexual or transgender;

Whereas, in May 2016, the Justice and Education Departments issued guidelines that under
Title IX of the Education Amendments of1972 schools receiving federal money may not .
discriminate based on a student?s transgender status and that the department would treat
a student?s gender identity as the student?s sex for purpose of enforcing Title 

 

Whereas, despite the rescission of this policy by the Trump administration, the Jersey City
Board of Education has continued to adhere to the 2016 guidelines within the Jersey City
school system; -

Whereas, many cities including Austin, Texas; Berkeley California; Philadelphia,
Santa Fe, New Mexico and Seattle, Washington have passed laws extending
these protections to all of their facilities and requiring all bathrooms to be single-user a11-
gender bathrooms; -

 

Whereas, California became the first state to require that all single-toilet facilities to be
gender neutral;

Whereas, as Mayor of the City of Jersey City, I am responsible, pursuant to New Jersey
Statute for the ?care and custody of a1 municipal property? and am therefore
authorized to issue the following executive order prohibiting discrimination in the use of
bathroom facilities maintained by the City of Jersey City in any of its buildings:

 

.GOV

 

For the foregoing reasons and pursuant to the authority vested in the Mayor of the City of
Iers'ey City by law, 1 issue the following Executive Order:

All bathroom facilities in any place of public accommodation maintained by the City
of jersey City shall bear the a sign, which shall be viewable to any user at the
entrance of the facility and legible to all users containing substantially the following
words: ?Gender diversity is Welcomed here; please use the restroom that best fits
your gender identity or expression?; 

On or before April 1, 2017, the Director of Public Works shall modify all such
bathroom facilities to assure the privacy of individual users, which at a minimum
shall include a locking mechanism controlled by the user in each bathroom stall;

In the alternative, such bathroom facilities may be converted to single-user toiler
facilities and be identified as gender-neutral by appropriate signage and designated 
for use by no more than one occupant at a time or for family of assisted use;

For the purpose of this section ?single-user facility? means a toilet facility with no
more than one water closet and one urinal with a locking mechanism controlled by
the user.

All city agencies and employees shall fully cooperate with this Executive Order.

Any other Executive Orders inconsistent with the provisions of this Order are
hereby rescinded.

This Executive Order shall be kept on file in the Offices of the City Clerk and
Business Administrator. It will also be made available to the public upon request.

This Order shall take effect immediately.

 

cc: Robert Kakoleski, Acting Business Administrator
Robert Byrne, City Clerk
Jeremy Farrell, Corporation Counsel
A11 Department Directors

 

ERSEYCIT YNJ.GOV