Idaho officials tell judge they can use DNA testing to enforce trans bathroom laws

Idaho proposes DNA testing amid debate over trans toilet ban (Image: Getty)

Idaho officials told a federal judge. He argued that DNA testing could be used to enforce strict trans bus laws in the state.

In Idaho, transgender people are required by law to use public restrooms and locker rooms in the gender assigned to them at birth.

The law was recently called into question by a federal judge as they considered whether to temporarily block a lawsuit brought by six transgender people over House Bill 752.

House Bill 752 – What it means

The bill, which is scheduled to take effect on July 1, would impose criminal liability on people who “knowingly and knowingly” enter a restroom or locker room that differs from the sex assigned to them at birth. Repeat offenders can receive up to five years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Amanda Brailsford asked officials how they can expect bathroom laws to be enforced now that many transgender people carry identification that corresponds to their correct gender, according to the Capital Sun.

Idaho Attorney General Michael Zarian told the judge it shouldn’t be that difficult “because we have DNA testing.”

Additionally, Zarian said that while transgender people do not necessarily have to consent to a proposed DNA test, it is questionable whether they would be asked to take a DNA test on the spot.

Lambda Law Firm attorney Kel Olson, a trans man, represented the six Idahoans who filed the lawsuit. He questioned the merits of Zarian’s testing proposal, saying DNA tests typically require a warrant.

“HB 752 does make Idaho less safe for transgender people. Whatever they do can pose a risk of serious and imminent harm,” Olson told the judge.

Potential harms and pitfalls of this bill

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Olson detailed the pitfalls of the new law. “If I go to a restaurant with my family and I want to wash my hands before dinner, this law applies to me. Now I have to stop and make a decision: If this law was in place, would I go into the men’s restroom, which is currently illegal?” he asked.

“Or would I go into a women’s room and take all the risks that come with that, like being assaulted or harassed or someone calling the police because it would look like I was breaking the law?”

ACLU of Idaho attorney Emily Croston chimed in, telling reporters, “I don’t think the state has an answer for how to identify someone’s biological sex…Do they just look at people entering the bathroom and decide if they look male or female enough? That’s ridiculous.”