Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) on Tuesday signed a bill into law that makes it a crime for transgender people to use the restroom that matches their gender identity, enacting one of the nation’s far-reaching restrictions on public accommodations and marking a new step in the state’s efforts to regulate where transgender people can exist in public life.
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Little signed House Bill 752 around 4:50 p.m., according to daily tracking records released by the governor’s office. Idaho Advocate Nixon Matthews said the governor played a role in the activists who gathered outside the state Capitol for a Transgender Visibility Day rally.
“He signed it while we were having a TDOV rally in front of us,” Matthews said. Defender.
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The law makes it a crime to “knowingly” enter a restroom or locker room in a government building or public accommodation that does not correspond to the gender assigned at birth. First offenses are punishable by up to one year in prison. A second conviction within five years can be charged as a felony and punishable by up to five years in prison.
Transgender residents say the law gives them no choice. In the editorial of defender, Matthews explained what this means in practice as a daily calculation between two risks. “Do you feel like going to jail? Or do you feel like being attacked?” they wrote.
Advocacy groups denounced the measures as punitive and dangerous.
“Sending someone to prison just for using the toilet is nothing short of pure, unfiltered brutality,” said Human Rights Campaign spokeswoman Delphine Renaud. “Idaho’s anti-equality officials have shown just such hostility by passing a bill that jails transgender people for using the restroom and exposes them to harassment and discrimination in their most private spaces. This is a blatant and unconscionable attack on their own voters that risks ruining the lives of innocent people while doing nothing to address the real concerns of Idaho families.”
The bill passed the House of Representatives on Thursday and then the Idaho Senate, moving from introduction to law at an unusually fast pace for a bill with criminal penalties.
Law enforcement groups had warned that the measures would be difficult to enforce. Organizations such as the Idaho Fraternal Order of Police and the Idaho Police Chiefs Association say the bill could put officers in the position of determining a person’s “biological sex” or whether they qualify for exceptions, a decision that critics argue is inherently subjective.
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The Idaho Sheriff’s Association called on lawmakers to require individuals to first be asked to leave the premises before calling police. Lawmakers refused to adopt the changes.
The law includes a series of exceptions for when emergency response, medical assistance, or reasonable alternative accommodations are not available, but critics argue that these carve-outs do little to address the fact that the law criminalizes the presence, not the act.
The bill was introduced as part of a broader legislative push in Idaho targeting transgender people, including restricting bathroom access in schools, efforts to limit the display of Pride flags on government property, and proposals that critics say could force transgender students to leave their homes.
The law is scheduled to come into effect on July 1st.
Source: Advocate.com – www.advocate.com
