By Ruth Brown, Idaho Reports
The House Education Committee advanced a bill Wednesday that would prohibit K-12 schools from allowing people to use bathrooms and changing rooms that do not match their biological sex.
On a party-line vote, S 1100, moved forward after more than an hour of testimony and debate.
If the bill passes, schools would be required to maintain separate restrooms, showers, dressing areas, locker rooms and overnight accommodations for biological girls and biological boys. The school would need to find accommodation for any student who is unwilling or unable to use the standard bathroom.
Current law allows individual school districts to make the decision on how to best accommodate transgender and intersex students.
The bill does include a civil cause of action that some legislators took issue. The bill states that any student who used a facility could sue the school if a person of the opposite sex also used the facility with the school’s permission. The plaintiff could sue as late as four years after the incident, for $5,000 for each instance in which they came across the person of the opposite sex in the facility. Further damages could be requested for psychological, emotional and other harm suffered.
Rep. Ted Hill, R-Eagle, who sponsored the bill, argued that the clause was necessary.
“A law without teeth is no law at all,” Hill said.
Rep. Steve Berch, D-Boise, disagreed. He made a substitute motion to amend the law, taking out the civil cause of action. That motion failed.
Rep. Lori McCann, R-Lewiston, noted that Idaho currently has a cause of action, and she would support the bill, but agreed that the lawsuit clause was unnecessary to put it in legislation. Several laws introduced this year included civil causes of actions.
Chairman Rep. Julie Yamamoto, R-Nampa, said she also had concern about the cause of action, but because school boards supported the legislation, she would support the bill.
Berch said he’d check with his school board and may change his vote on the floor if they support the bill.
The bill now moves forward to the House for a vote.
Ruth Brown | Producer
Ruth Brown grew up in South Dakota and her first job out of college was covering the South Dakota Legislature. She’s since moved on to Idaho lawmakers. Brown spent 10 years working in print journalism, including newspapers such as the Idaho Statesman and Idaho Press, where she’s covered everything from the correctional system to health care issues. She joined Idaho Reports in 2021 and looks forward to telling stories about how state policy can impact the lives of regular Idahoans.
