Two Idaho lawmakers on Friday introduced bathroom bills aimed at letting people use the bathroom that corresponds to their biological sex, despite disagreement over whether that is an issue.
Sagar Rep. Cornel Rasor has introduced a bill that could make it a misdemeanor to “knowingly and knowingly” enter such a restroom or locker room in a government building or public place.
Rep. Ted Hill (R-Eagle) has introduced a bill that would allow people to sue government entities under certain circumstances if someone of the opposite sex is spotted in a bathroom or locker room. Public accommodations can also be held liable if they do not take “reasonable steps” to ensure bathrooms and changing rooms remain single-sex.
Hill spoke before the House committee about the “degradation of society” and how it has become an issue over the years.
“What worries me and the people who come to me is that a large number of women and girls are afraid to even talk about this issue because there is no way to deal with it,” Rathore told the committee. “This provides a way to address the problem so that they can start reclaiming their own space.”
But Republican Rep. Stephanie Mickelson of Idaho Falls disagreed, ultimately joining two Democrats on the House State Affairs Committee in voting against the resolution that would have introduced Rathore. The committee did not require every member to vote to introduce Hill’s bill.
“I’ve been a woman my whole life,” Mickelson said. “In my entire life, in my entire existence, in this entire planet, in this country, in this state, I’ve never had a man come into the women’s restroom. I think sometimes we’re legislating for issues that can happen or are one-offs, but I don’t think we should be legislating that way.”
Rep. Ted Hill, D-Eagle, and Rep. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa, right, in January. Hill introduced a bathroom bill backed by the Christian lobby.
(Darin Oswald/doswald@idahostatesman.com)
Idaho has a population of more than 2 million, including about 8,000 transgender and non-binary people, according to previous reporting by the Statesman.
Hill’s bill was drafted by the Idaho Family Policy Center, an influential Christian lobbying group. It’s unclear whether Rathore’s bill is valid; Center President Brian Conzati declined to comment when asked.
Both bills include exemptions, for example, if there is a single-occupancy restroom or if someone enters the restroom to provide medical assistance. But Friday’s meeting discussed the specifics of how the bills would work.
For example, lawmakers wanted to know what would happen if someone accidentally walked into the wrong bathroom (Rathore said it wasn’t “intentional and voluntary”), how police would determine someone’s biological sex (Rathore said “DNA came to mind”), and what to do if the bathroom was full and there was an emergency.
“If a man has a choice between using the women’s restroom and having problems with his pants, he will knowingly and voluntarily choose to go to the women’s restroom,” Mickelson said.
Rathore’s bill provides an exception for a single-user facility if it is the only one “reasonably available.”
The two new bills are the latest in a series of legislation that puts Idaho at the forefront of laws targeting LGBTQ+ people. In 2020, Idaho became the first state to ban female athletes from competing in women’s sports. Litigation in the case is ongoing; in January, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case challenging the law.
This session, lawmakers also introduced a measure to roll back nondiscrimination ordinances in Idaho cities. Much of the debate over the bill has centered around LGBTQ+ Idahoans.
Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, the measure’s sponsor, supported LaSalle’s new bathroom bill during Friday’s meeting.
“This is a little personal to me. We were at SeaWorld many years ago…and my 12-year-old daughter came out of the restroom at SeaWorld, pale and a little shaken,” Skoog said. “She was washing her hands in the bathroom sink and next to her in the women’s bathroom was a bearded man wearing a skirt and high heels. We have never seen or heard of anything like this before.”
But Rep. Monica Church, D-Boise, warned that lawmakers are focused not on crime but on the behavior that exists in the space.
“What we’re trying to say is we don’t want our daughter to see a man,” Church said. “That’s the crime. She saw a man in a public bathroom… It’s not that she was assaulted or raped or, like, all the things we want to punish, but the thing we wanted to save her from was seeing a man in a place.”
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