Judge rules transgender people won’t face criminal charges for using Idaho public restrooms
Transgender people won’t face criminal charges because public restrooms in Idaho match their gender identity, a judge ruled Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Amanda Brailsford’s decision suspends enforcement of key components of a law passed in March that would go into effect July 1; The law goes further than laws in other states by restricting bathrooms that transgender people can use in public places, including privately owned places where restrooms are open to the public.
“This ruling will allow transgender people in Idaho to find and use public restrooms without fear of arrest as we continue the longer fight to permanently defeat this discriminatory law in court,” Lambda Law attorney Kell Olson said in a statement Tuesday.
The law is stricter than others
At least 19 states, including Idaho, have laws limiting the bathrooms transgender people can use in schools and sometimes other public buildings.
Idaho lawThe agreement, signed by Republican Gov. Brad Little in March, went even further.
This also applies to toilets in private buildings, if they are public. And it introduced criminal penalties, including up to one year in prison for a first offense and up to five years in prison for a second offense.
The law included exceptions that allowed a person to use a single-use toilet designated for the “opposite sex” if it was the only toilet “reasonably available” and the person had a “serious need” to use the toilet.
The Idaho Association of Chiefs of Police was concerned about how police would determine whether someone was in “serious need of assistance.”
Six transgender Idaho residents represented by Lambda and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit, arguing that the law is unconstitutional.
A judge finds the law unclear
Brailsford, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, largely agreed with the plaintiffs.
His order did not completely abolish the law.
Instead, the judge set some parameters, saying the law could not apply to situations where people use a single-stall restroom or where a single-user restroom is unavailable and unoccupied on the same floor as a multi-user facility.
“No one should be forced to choose between the threat of arrest for being out in public and the threat of harassment and violence for acting as the state wants,” ACLU attorney Barbara Schwabauer said in a statement. “The injunction is a vital first step as we continue to fight against this gross violation of privacy and fundamental equality until the law is fully blocked.”
State plans to appeal
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador said he plans to appeal Tuesday’s ruling.
He said that even if there is a decision, it may come into force regarding locker rooms and some toilets. It also applies to people who are not transgender.
“This is a results-oriented decision that misapplies the law, confuses the issues and misrepresents the State’s position,” he said in a statement. “Biological sex is not ambiguous, and neither is this law.”
