Citing the new dynamics of the “modern family,” California is considering Senate Bill 1358 — a measure that would require changing tables in public restrooms be “accessible to both men and women.” Treading carefully on the minefield of gender politics, the proposal says changing tables must be “equally available or provided regardless of the gender for which the restroom facilities are designed.” California Sen. Ricardo Lara, sponsor of the bill, told Fox News that “traditional gender roles with women as the primary caregiver for the children are changing.”
But Lara’s statement also revealed the more immediate beneficiaries of such a measure. Modern heterosexual parents, no matter how “modern” their childcare duties, can usually cope with a changing table only being available in one bathroom — even if it’s unfair and inconvenient. But same-sex parents are screwed, if they happen to be two men with a baby while the changing table is in the women’s room. Lara acknowledged this briefly, mentioning the “growing number of same sex couples.” Lara no doubt counts TV star Ashton Kutcher as a backer of the bill. Kutcher, and many of the 2,000 comments on Reddit about the issue, point out that, you know, babies are sometimes out with their Dads — whether it’s a family with two male parents, or just one.
