Idaho transgender bathroom law blocked by judge days before it goes into effect
A trans bathroom law has been blocked (Image: Getty Images)
A federal judge has blocked enforcement of key parts of Idaho’s new law that would criminalise transgender people for using public bathrooms that do not match their sex assigned at birth, finding the measure is likely unconstitutional.
In a 30-page court decision issued on Tuesday (16 June), US District Judge Amanda K Brailsford granted a preliminary injunction days before the law was due to take effect on 1 July.
House Bill 752, signed into law by Republican governor Brad Little this March, made it illegal to knowingly enter certain restrooms or changing rooms designated for the “opposite biological sex” in government-owned buildings and places of public accommodation, including private businesses open to the public.
A first violation could be punished by up to one year in jail, while a second offence could be prosecuted as a felony carrying up to five years in prison.
Brailsford found the law likely violates due process because its enforcement standards are unclear and could lead to arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement.
“Different officers could reasonably reach different conclusions regarding identical conduct, not because the facts differ, but because the statute furnishes no standards by which those facts are to be evaluated,” she wrote, as per The Advocate.
The case was brought by six transgender Idaho residents represented by the ACLU, the ACLU of Idaho, and Lambda Legal.
Why the judge said the law is too vague
Brailsford also provisionally certified a statewide class of transgender Idaho residents, therefore extending the protection beyond just the named plaintiffs.
In her ruling, she noted that during oral argument, defendants said law enforcement could use DNA testing to prove biological sex. Brailsford added that police generally cannot collect DNA without consent, a warrant, or other legal authority.
Idaho attorney general says he will appeal
Lambda Legal counsel Kell Olson said in a statement: “This ruling will allow transgender people throughout Idaho to find and use a public restroom, without the fear of arrest looming over them, while we continue the longer fight to permanently defeat this discriminatory law in court.”
ACLU lawyer Barbara Schwabauer said: “No one should be forced to choose between the threat of arrest for being themselves in public or the threat of harassment and violence for acting the way the state wants them to be.”
Idaho attorney general Raul Labrador said he plans to appeal, arguing the law is not vague. “Biological sex is not vague, and neither is this law,” he said in a statement. Labrador also said the ruling was narrow and that parts relating to locker rooms and showers or changing rooms remain in effect.
According to USA Today, the ruling allows trans folks to keep using single-stall toilets matching their gender identity, or use a multi-cubicle bathroom if single-stall is unavailable. However, the state may continue to enforce the law when dealing with multiple-user bathrooms, as well as public locker rooms or showers.
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