Six transgender residents of Idaho have brought a class-action lawsuit in federal court seeking to block a state law that makes it a crime for transgender people to use public restrooms and changing rooms that correspond to the sex assigned to them at birth rather than their gender identity, civil liberties groups said on Thursday.
The complaint was filed on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Boise. It asserts that the statute infringes on the plaintiffs' rights to due process, equal protection and privacy as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The measure was approved by the Republican-controlled Idaho legislature in March and subsequently signed into law by Republican Governor Brad Little. With its enactment, Idaho becomes one of four states that impose criminal penalties as an enforcement mechanism for restrictions on restroom access based on birth-assigned gender, according to the complaint and statements from counsel representing the plaintiffs.
The legal action was filed on behalf of six named plaintiffs by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, the ACLU of Idaho Foundation, the Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund and two private law firms. The state attorney general, Raul Labrador, and all 43 of Idaho's prosecuting attorneys are named as defendants in the suit.
Lambda attorney Kell Olson said the lawsuit is believed to be the first federal challenge to this newly enacted measure. The suit challenges the law's asserted rationale and its practical effects, saying proponents relied on inaccurate beliefs and stereotypes about transgender people.
"The Idaho legislature relied on inaccurate beliefs and stereotypes about transgender people," the suit says, "primarily conflating transgender people with sexual predators."
While supporters of the legislation have framed it as a public safety measure aimed at making bathrooms safer, the plaintiffs' complaint counters that the law will instead place transgender individuals at greater risk. The lawsuit states the statute will likely expose transgender people to "violence, harassment and psychological harm" and that its enactment was motivated by hostility toward transgender people and seeks to push them to the margins of public life.
In a brief response to the court filing, a spokesperson for Attorney General Raul Labrador said, "We look forward to defending the law."
According to the legal filings, Idaho is among roughly 20 states that have enacted some form of bathroom access restrictions for transgender people. But Idaho, along with Utah, Kansas and Florida, is one of only four states to attach criminal penalties to such restrictions. Olson told reporters that Idaho's penalties are among the most severe.
The statute makes it a crime to enter a restroom or changing room designated for the opposite biological sex in government buildings, restaurants, stores and other private businesses when those facilities are open to the public. Under the law's provisions, the first offense would be charged as a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail. A second offense within five years would be treated as a felony, carrying a maximum sentence of five years behind bars. The new restrictions are scheduled to take effect in July.
The complaint also references earlier Idaho measures that restrict restroom access by birth sex in public schools and on college campuses. Those prior laws allow students to sue if they encounter a transgender person they allege is using facilities in violation of the statutes. Both of those statutes remain in effect but are being contested in court, Olson said, as they make their way through the judicial process.
The plaintiffs' legal challenge frames the conflict as one over constitutional protections and the practical consequences of criminal enforcement for a vulnerable population. The filing asks the court to find the statute unconstitutional on its face and to enjoin its enforcement while the litigation proceeds.
Context and next steps
The suit will proceed in the federal district court in Boise. The named plaintiffs and their counsel are seeking class-action status, which would allow the challenge to extend protection to others similarly situated should the court certify the class. The state defendants have indicated their intention to defend the legislation in court.
How the court will rule and whether any part of the law will be stayed pending litigation are matters the filings set up for judicial resolution.