All-gender bathroom bill moves closer to becoming law in Illinois

The Illinois Senate on Thursday passed an amended version of a bill that would allow businesses and public institutions to provide multi-occupant all-gender bathrooms if they choose to do so.

House Bill 1286 would change current state law, which says that while single-occupancy bathrooms are automatically designated for all genders, multi-occupancy bathrooms must be designated as male or female.

One Republican State Senator spoke out against the bill, saying that it could spark violence.

"I'm telling you right now. If a guy walks in there, I'm gonna beat the living piss out of him," said State Sen. Neil Anderson, of the 47th District Thursday. "Yeah. So this is going to cause violence, and it's going to cause violence from dads like me."

State Senate Majority Leader Kim Lightford said GOP critics “don’t understand that life is evolving.”

The bill ultimately cleared the Senate 35-20.

The amended version heads back to the Illinois House, which had already passed the measure on March 23, before it can be sent to Gov. JB Pritzker. 

The law would allow businesses to construct all-gender multi-capacity restrooms, but it would not require them to do so.