Montana has been ordered by the highest court in the state to clarify the language of a ballot on whether trans people can use gender-appropriate bathrooms.
A ruling was made on Tuesday by the Montana Supreme Court after the ACLU of Montana put forward a legal challenge to the ballot.
The ACLU had accused the state of being too vague on the ballot and excluding to define what is meant by ‘sex’.
And the state’s highest court agreed that the ballot did not specify whether it would only apply to local government buildings and public education facilities.
(Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)
The court also noted that the ballot did not specify how much it would cost local government and education authorities to comply with the law if enacted.
In addition, the Montana Supreme Court also stated that the language did not go far enough to protect against legal action by anbody claiming “emotional or mental distress” if they come across a trans person.
In a statement issued on the language, Caitlin Borgmann said that the ballot, if passed, would “banish transgender Montanans from full and equal participation in public life.”
The measure has been compared to the semi-repealed HB2 measure in North Carolina which banned trans people from using gender-appropriate public restrooms.
The ballot in Montana has been put forward by the Montana Family Foundation, which has until June to gather 26,000 signatures for it to go on a November 2018 ballot.
Legislators in the state had rejected a referendum on the issue this year.
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