Judge rules transgender people won’t face criminal charges for using Idaho public restrooms

A judge ruled Tuesday that transgender people won’t face criminal charges for using Idaho public restrooms that match their gender identities.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Amanda Brailsford puts on hold enforcement of key components of a law adopted in March — and set to take effect July 1 — that went further than laws in other states to restrict which bathrooms transgender people can use in public places, including privately owned places where restrooms are open to the public.

“This ruling will allow transgender people throughout Idaho to find and use a public restroom,” Lambda Legal lawyer Kell Olson said in a statement Tuesday, “without the fear of arrest looming over them, while we continue the longer fight to permanently defeat this discriminatory law in court.”

The law is stricter than others

At least 19 states, including Idaho, have laws that limit which bathrooms transgender people can use in schools, or sometimes other public buildings.

The Idaho law, signed by Republican Gov. Brad Little in March, went further.

It applies to restrooms — even in private buildings, if they’re open to the public. And it introduced criminal penalties, including up to a year in jail for a first offense and up to five years in prison for a second offense.

The law included exceptions allowing a person to use a single-use restroom designated for the “opposite sex” if it’s the only “reasonably available” one — and when the person is in “dire need” of using the restroom.

The Idaho Chiefs of Police Association was concerned about how police would determine if someone was in “dire need.”

Six transgender Idaho residents represented by Lambda and the American Civil Liberties Union sued, arguing that the law is unconstitutionally vague.

A judge finds the law vague

Brailsford, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, largely agreed with the plaintiffs.

Her order didn’t entirely throw out the law.

Instead, the judge set some parameters, saying the law couldn’t be enforced against someone using a single-stall restroom or when no single-user restroom is available 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 themselves in public or the threat of harassment and violence for acting the way the state wants them to be,” ACLU lawyer Barbara Schwabauer said in a statement. “The preliminary injunction is a vital first step as we continue to challenge this gross violation of privacy and fundamental equality until the law is blocked for good.”

The state plans to appeal

Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador said he plans to appeal Tuesday’s ruling.

He said that even with the ruling, it can take effect regarding changing rooms and some restrooms. It also applies to people who are not transgender.

“This is a results-driven decision that misapplies the law, confuses the issues, and misrepresents the position of the State,” he said in a statement. “Biological sex is not vague, and neither is this law.”