New Bill Seeks to Restore Privacy for Women and Girls in Intimate Spaces
A new bill introduced in the California Legislature aims to restore clarity, safety, and common sense to one of the most controversial areas of state law: intimate spaces designated for women and girls.
Assemblywoman Leticia Castillo has introduced AB 1998, legislation designed to protect privacy in bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, and other intimate facilities by clearly defining “sex” in state law, when it comes to intimate spaces, as biological and immutable: male or female.
Under current California law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act protects access to business establishments regardless of sex, race, religion, ancestry, national origin, and other protected classes. Yet the act defines “sex” to include gender identity and gender expression, allowing anyone who identifies as female or non-binary to use female intimate spaces. AB 1998 would make an exception for intimate spaces, requiring that those to be separated by “an individual’s immutable biological sex, including either female or male.”
The bill defines “intimate spaces” as bathrooms, showers, changing rooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms, and any area where an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy from the opposite sex. Importantly, the measure allows single-occupancy bathrooms to remain gender-neutral.
Assemblywoman Leticia Castillo explained her motivation clearly. “I authored AB 1998 because parents across California are asking for clarity and commonsense protections in intimate spaces where females deserve privacy and safety. This measure simply requires that bathrooms, locker rooms, and changing areas in businesses be separated by sex, while still allowing single-occupancy gender-neutral options. Protecting civil rights and protecting females are not mutually exclusive, and this bill makes sure we do both.”
The bill sponsor, Our Duty attorney Erin Friday, believes the bill is long overdue. “We moved from believing all women during the ‘me too’ era to believing all men who say they are women,” she said. “This places females in harm’s way, especially young girls.”
Why This Bill Is Necessary
This legislation is not theoretical. It responds to real incidents that have left women and girls feeling vulnerable, dismissed, and unheard.
The Santee YMCA Incident
Three years ago, California Family Council reported on a troubling incident at a YMCA in Santee, where a male was permitted to shower in the women’s locker room alongside minor girls under the YMCA’s transgender policy.
Seventeen-year-old Rebecca Phillips was working out at the local YMCA when she encountered a naked male in the women’s locker room while showering. Startled and frightened, she recalled, “I immediately went back into the shower, terrified, and hid behind their flimsy excuse for a curtain until he was gone.” After composing herself, she approached the front desk to report the incident. YMCA management told her the man had every right to be there.
In accordance with their policy, any individual who is not flagged on the California sex offender registry may use whichever facility they choose. As Rebecca retold the incident before the Santee City Council, she became emotional as she recalled how her thoughts immediately turned to her five-year-old sister. She regularly brings her young sister to the same facility during the summer to enjoy the water slides, and the thought of her being exposed to the same situation was clearly overwhelming.
“This is the YMCA where my little sister took gymnastics lessons,” she told the council, her voice breaking. “The locker room was supposed to be her safe haven to gossip with her friends and shower and change.” She also pointed out that the facility serves as a gathering place for many children, noting, “This is the YMCA where hundreds of children spend their summer afternoons in child care camps.”
The incident has drawn attention to a broader policy issue in San Diego County, where a 2022 ordinance redefined a woman to include trans women and intersex women, allowing any male to use county facilities designated for women. Rebecca challenged those in positions of authority directly, asking, “Could you knowingly send an underage girl into a room where there was a naked male and say that she was not in danger, that she was safe?” The YMCA responded with an official statement saying the comfort and safety of all their members was their highest priority, but as Rebecca made clear to the council and to the country, “There is nothing safe about allowing a male into a space where underage girls shower, change, and use the restroom.”
The Wi Spa Case
In another widely reported incident in 2021, a man who identifies as “androgynous male and female” was accused of indecent exposure at Wi Spa in Los Angeles. The suspect, who had a prior history of indecent exposure, was ultimately found not guilty, even though he was walking around the spa exposing his genitals to women and minors. The case sparked national debate about the consequences of allowing males into female-only spaces, particularly when prior criminal histories are involved.
The Wi Spa incident drew significant attention not only because of the nature of the accusation, but because of what it revealed about the lack of safeguards in place to protect women and children in these spaces. Read the details about the man’s trial here.
Planet Fitness Incident
In January 2026, a video went viral showing a man who identifies as female allegedly pleasuring himself in a women’s restroom stall at a Planet Fitness in Concord, California. Grace Hutson, who was using the restroom at the time, said she noticed the man still in the stall when she returned 10 to 15 minutes later. She alerted the front desk staff, but employees appeared unsure how to handle the situation. Her boyfriend then confronted the man, who responded by saying, “I’m allowed to be in here, I’m a transgender.”
Tish Hyman Speaks Out
Even individuals who identify as politically progressive have begun speaking out. Musical artist Tish Hyman, who identifies as a lesbian, went viral after confronting a male in her gym locker room.
She became an unlikely voice in the debate over males in women’s locker rooms after a video of her being escorted out of her gym went viral, accumulating over 18 million views on X back in November 2025. According to The Daily Wire, Hyman said the outburst was her last attempt to warn other women at the gym before she was removed. “That moment was me trying to warn the ladies in the gym,” Hyman told The Daily Wire. “I didn’t know it would warn ladies around the world.”
Hyman said she had encountered at least seven males in the women’s locker room over the course of a month, one of whom was Grant Freeman, a convicted domestic abuser who now identifies as a woman and goes by “Alexis.” Hyman told The Daily Wire that she would change her gym schedule daily hoping to avoid Freeman, saying, “I go to the gym a different time every day. I just pray… please God, don’t let me see him today.” Despite her complaints, it was Hyman, not Freeman, who was ultimately escorted out of the gym by police.
Following her viral moment, Hyman traveled to San Francisco to confront California state lawmaker Scott Wiener directly about his pro-transgender policies, asking him what assurances he could offer women regarding their safety in female-only spaces. When Wiener responded that “trans women are women,” Hyman pushed back, telling him they were not, a moment that drew boos from the crowd. Despite the hostility, Hyman remains determined. “I am motivated for change,” she said. “I can’t be okay until I know that women are protected by law.”
Restoring Common Sense
California Family Council has long maintained that civil rights protections should not come at the expense of women and girls.
CFC Vice President Greg Burt responded to the introduction of AB 1998. “It’s time to stop the madness. Californians are tired of being held hostage to an ideology that denies biological reality and violates the privacy rights of women and girls. The sexes deserve privacy in their intimate spaces. This bill restores clarity and common sense.”
At its heart, this debate is not about animosity. It is about truth. As Scripture reminds us, “So God created man in his own image… male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27, ESV). Biological sex is not assigned by culture or redefined by feelings; it is part of God’s created order.
Protecting that order protects people, especially the most vulnerable.
What Happens Next?
AB 1998 has not yet been assigned to a committee. The proposal will likely face intense opposition from activist groups and the Democratic supermajority in Sacramento. But public opinion is shifting. Parents are speaking out. Athletes are pushing back. Women across the political spectrum are saying enough is enough.
Contact your Assemblymember today and tell them to support AB 1998.