Washington state has enacted a pro-trans policy on bathroom use, officials announced on Tuesday (5 December).

Under the new rules, quietly adopted by the state human rights commission on 26 December, all buildings open to the public – including schools – must allow people to use restrooms, showers and locker rooms corresponding with their gender identity.

‘Transgender people are already living and working in Washington State, and we think they should be treated with dignity and respect like everybody else,’ Margaret Chen, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, told AP.

Sexual orientation is a protected class under the state’s anti-discrimination law and includes gender identity and expression, and the new policy clarifies this.

Last week, New York City announced the nation’s toughest laws on transgender discrimination, under which violators who repeatedly call a transgender woman ‘him’ or ‘Mr’ can be fined up to $250,000.

After the Supreme Court’s June ruling legalizing gay marriage nationwide, social conservatives have turned their attention to bathroom bills, arguing that allowing transgender people to use restrooms of their gender identity would open the door for sexual predators to go into women’s toilets.