(a) This division applies to every public accommodation of any kind in the County whose facilities, accommodations, services, commodities, or use are offered to or enjoyed by the general public either with or without charge, such as: (1) restaurants, soda fountains, and other eating or drinking places, and all places where food is sold for consumption either on or off the premises; (2) inns, hotels, and motels, whether serving temporary or permanent patrons; (3) retail stores and service establishments; (4) hospitals, health care institutions, domiciliary care homes, nursing homes, personal care homes, and clinics; (5) motion picture, stage, and other theaters and music, concert, or meeting halls; (6) circuses, exhibitions, skating rinks, sports arenas and fields, amusement or recreation parks, picnic grounds, fairs, bowling alleys, golf courses, gymnasiums, shooting galleries, billiard and pool rooms, and swimming pools; (7) public conveyances, such as automobiles, buses, taxicabs, trolleys, trains, limousines, boats, airplanes, and bicycles; (8) utilities, such as water and sewer service, electricity, telephone, and cable television; (9) streets, roads, sidewalks, other public rights-of-way, parking lots or garages, marinas, airports, and hangars; and (10) places of public assembly and entertainment of every kind. (b) In this Chapter, “public accommodation” includes any service, program, or activity offered to or used by the general public. (c) Except as provided in Section 27-11B, this division does not apply to accommodations that are distinctly private or personal.

(a) An owner, lessee, operator, manager, agent, or employee of any place of public accommodation in the County must not, with respect to the accommodation: (1) make any distinction with respect to any person based on race, color, sex, marital status, religious creed, ancestry, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender expression, HIV status, or gender identity in connection with: (A) admission; (B) service or sales; or (C) price, quality, or use of any facility or service; (2) display, circulate or publicize or cause to be displayed, circulated or publicized, directly or indirectly, any notice, communication, or advertisement that states or implies: (A) any distinction in the availability of any facility, service, commodity, or activity related to the accommodation that would violate paragraph (1), or (B) that the patronage or presence of any person is unwelcome, objectionable, unacceptable, or not desired or solicited on account of any person's race, color, sex, marital status, religious creed, ancestry, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender expression, HIV status, or gender identity; (3) retaliate against any person because that person: (A) lawfully opposed any discriminatory practice under this division; or (B) filed a complaint, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this division; (4) assist in, compel, or coerce any discriminatory practice under this division; (5) obstruct or prevent enforcement or compliance with this division; or (6) attempt directly or indirectly to commit any discriminatory practice under this division. (b) A person must not refuse to make any readily achievable modification that would give a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy the public accommodation.

(a) Legislative findings and statement of policy. (1) The County has a goal to ensure that every resident can live without fear of discrimination based on sex—including on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. To achieve this goal the county will: (A) protect LGBTQ community members from discrimination in all public facilities, including health and personal care facilities; (B) ensure medical providers respect the gender identity and pronouns of all patients; (C) strengthen access to care facilities for sexual minorities and all gender identities; and (D) ensure that all public accommodations in Montgomery County adhere to non-discrimination laws. (2) The County Council finds that ending and preventing harassment among LGBTQ individuals requires substantial coordination and cooperation among federal, state, and local governments, as well as private sector service providers and community organizations. (b) Definitions. In this Section, the following terms have the meanings indicated. Care facility or facility means a place of public accommodation that provides direct personal care or health care to individuals, such as a hospital, clinic, nursing home, domiciliary care home, or personal care home. Harass includes requiring an individual to show identity documents to gain entrance to a restroom available to other individuals of the same gender identity. (c) Discriminatory practices prohibited under Section 27-11 include when an owner, lessee, operator, manager, agent, or employee of any care facility in the County, based on an individual’s sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or HIV status: (1) denies admission to a facility, transfers or refuses to transfer the individual within a facility or to another facility, or discharges or evicts an individual from a facility; (2) denies a request by individuals to share a room in a facility; (3) if rooms are assigned by gender, assigns, reassigns, or refuses to assign a room to a transgender individual other than in accordance with the individual’s gender identity, unless at the individual’s request; (4) prohibits an individual from using, or harasses an individual who seeks to use or does use, a restroom available to other individuals of the same gender identity, regardless of whether the individual is making a gender transition or appears to be gender-nonconforming; (5) willfully and repeatedly uses an individual’s incorrect name or pronouns after being clearly informed of the correct name or pronouns; (6) denies an individual the right to wear or be dressed in clothing, accessories, or cosmetics that are allowed for any other individual; (7) restricts an individual’s right to associate with other individuals, including the right to consensual sexual relations, unless the restriction uniformly applies to all individuals in a nondiscriminatory manner; (8) denies or restricts medical or nonmedical care; or (9) provides medical or nonmedical care in a manner that, to a similarly situated reasonable individual, unduly demeans the individual’s dignity or causes avoidable discomfort. (d) Notice requirements. A facility must post prominently, and must include with any materials that describe the facility’s nondiscrimination policies, a notice that: (1) meets the requirements of subsection (e); and (2) is in a form prescribed by the Director. (e) The notice required under subsection (d) must include: (1) a statement that the law prohibits discrimination, including bullying, abuse, or harassment, on the basis of: (A) actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or HIV status; or (B) an association with another individual on account of that individual’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or HIV status; and (2) information about filing a complaint with the Commission on Human Rights.

(a) Definitions. In this Section, the following terms have the meanings indicated: Gender-inclusive signage means a sign or display identifying a restroom that does not indicate a specific gender or contains descriptive language, such as “restroom”, “bathroom”, or “toilet”, or a picture or icon indicating the restroom’s availability for use by any individual regardless of gender or gender identity. A gender-inclusive signage may include a picture or icon of a toilet. Place of public accommodation has the meaning stated in Section 27-10. Public single-user restroom means a single-occupancy restroom for public use with at least one toilet and an entry door that can be locked from the inside by the occupant. A public single-user restroom does not include a private restroom in a residence, hospital, inn, hotel, motel, or restrooms that are only accessible from a private room or office. (b) Gender-inclusive public single-user restroom – required. A public single-user restroom, existing or newly built, in a place of public accommodation or County-owned building, must be: (1) made available for use by individuals of any gender; and (2) identified with gender-inclusive signage. (c) Enforcement and Penalties. (1) Who may enforce. The following have the authority to enforce this Section: (A) The Department of Permitting Services; (B) The Department of Health and Human Services; and (C) any other agency designated by the Chief Administrative Officer. (2) A person authorized to enforce this Section must not issue a citation unless the violation still exists 30 days after an initial notice of violation. (3) A violation of this Section is a Class A violation.