Puerto Rico Bans Transgender People from Using Public Restrooms

In late February, Puerto Rico Governor Jenniffer González-Colón signed HB 165. The law bans transgender people from using public restrooms that do not correspond to their sex assigned at birth. Violators face fines of up to $15,000.

The ban applies to all government buildings, including the University of Puerto Rico. The document mandates sex-segregated multi-person restrooms and explicitly prohibits the installation of gender-neutral facilities in state institutions.

According to independent journalist Alexandra Vaca, the bill passed with 37 votes in the House of Representatives and 21 in the Senate. Eleven and five lawmakers voted against it, respectively. A government press release notes that the new regulations align with US President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14168.

The authors of the law justify the ban by citing the need to protect women. The text claims that advocates of gender-neutral bathrooms ignore cases where men posing as women enter female restrooms to commit assaults. As an argument, the law references testimonies from University of Pennsylvania swimmers who complained about the behavior of transgender athlete Lia Thomas during the 2021–2022 season. Lia Thomas has never been accused of sexual assault. Additionally, the law relies on right-wing media reports regarding school assaults.

Research presents a different statistical reality. According to a February 2025 study by the Williams Institute, transgender people disproportionately face harassment when forced to use restrooms aligning with their sex assigned at birth. In 2021, the same institute found that transgender individuals are four times more likely than cisgender people to be victims of violent crimes. The UK advocacy group TransLucent analyzed complaints about trans women in female restrooms between 2022 and 2024, concluding that such cases are extremely rare.

The government plans to direct the collected fines to the Center for Help for Rape Victims (CAVV).

Puerto Rico has become the first US territory to enact such a ban. Last year, González-Colón signed another restrictive law prohibiting gender-affirming medical care for transgender individuals under 21, which carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.

The event received little coverage in major media. Alexandra Vaca attributes this to the fact that on the day the law was signed, Kansas began invalidating the driver’s licenses of transgender people.