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Vermont's Republican Governor Just Signed A Gender-Neutral Bathroom Law

Gov. Phil Scott said he hopes the law “will send a powerful message” to the rest of the country.

Vermont's Republican Governor Phil Scott signed a law mandating all single-user public bathrooms be gender-neutral, a move he says he hopes will convey a "powerful message" to the rest of the country.

"This is especially important for kids in school who face anxiety and bullying over something as simple as using the restroom," Scott said at the signing ceremony.

"Treating others in this way is not who we are as Vermonters, and I hope the signing of this bill will send a powerful message that that's not the way we act."

HB 333 passed in the House by a wide majority in April 2017 and unanimously in the Senate last month. It will go into effect July 1.

“Every Vermonter will now have more opportunity to be able to use a bathroom," Brenda Churchill, from Vermont’s LGBTQIA alliance, told Seven Days magazine.

Last year, the Trump administration rescinded Obama-era protections for transgender students that allowed them to use facilities matching their gender identity. Earlier this year, the Department of Education confirmed it would no longer investigate complaints from those students.

Scott said Vermont has "a well-earned reputation for embracing equality and being inclusive." The state's nondiscrimination law protects gender identity in addition to sexual orientation.

California Governor Jerry Brown signed similar legislation in 2016.

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