Idaho lawmakers approved legislation Friday that would criminalize transgender people for using bathrooms and changing rooms associated with the gender they identify with, whether inside a government or privately owned building.
The bill, which senators approved in a 28-7 vote, states that any person who knowingly and willfully uses the space designated for use by the opposite biological sex will “be guilty of a misdemeanor and may be imprisoned in the county jail for a period to not exceed one year.” A second offense within five years will result in a felony and up to five years in prison.
Idaho and 20 other states currently ban transgender people from using bathrooms that match their gender identity, though in some states, the law applies only to elementary and secondary schools and others to all government buildings. The Idaho House of Representatives approved the bill last week and it’s now awaiting Idaho Gov. Brad Little’s (R) signature. If signed, the law would take effect on July 1.
The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Cornel Rasor (R), told House lawmakers during a debate last week that he proposed the legislation to protect women and girls from “discomfort and voyeurism, escalation and assaults.”
“We just say to trans people, well, unless you’re in dire need, and these are the words from the statute, ‘of defecating or urinating,’ stay out. Figure out some other way,” state Sen. James D. Ruchti (D) said during debate on Friday. “This isn’t how we treat people in our society.”
Sen. Ben Toews (R) told his colleagues that the bill protects “common sense realities.”
