BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Senate Education Committee passed Senate Bill 1100 (SB1100) after more than one hour of testimony sending the legislation to the Senate floor.
The majority of testimony supported SB1100. The proposed law would require K-12 Idaho public school districts to separate bathrooms and locker rooms by biological sex. The bill is intended to protect student privacy, according to Republican Bill Sponsor Rep. Ben Adam (R-Nampa).
The ACLU and Add The Words Idaho opposed the bill in testimony. They argued SB1100 discriminates against transgender kids.
"It is clear that Idaho is attempting yet again to legislate transgender and gender non-conforming people out of existence. By introducing these bills, lawmakers are sending a clear signal to their constituents that they believe transgender people don’t belong in Idaho and should be approached with fear and disdain. ACLU Executive Director Leo Morales said in a statement. "This bill simply threatens their ability to live and thrive in Idaho due to government-endorsed discrimination. We will not stop fighting this bill and bills like it.”
Idaho Family Policy Center President Blaine Conzatti told KTVB he helped write SB1100. He argued the bill is legal - citing Florida legal cases to the committee - and good policy.
“"Requiring students to share restrooms and changing facilities with members of the other biological sex generates potential embarrassment and shame, in addition to other safety concerns,” Conzatti wrote in a statement. “Schools should be educating students, not fighting culture wars. This legislation gives certainty to schools as they formulate bathroom policies that create a safe learning environment for all students."
Testimony supporting the bill included several citizens only representing themselves. No one - including the Rep. Adams and Conzatti - could cite to the committee an instance in Idaho where a person pretended to be transgender to gain access to a bathroom in order to harm another person.
"Why do we have to wait for somebody to be injured, hurt, or raped before we implement a law?" Sen. Chris Trakel (R-Caldwell) testified to the committee.
Three transgender people opposed the bill including Emilia Connelly
"It's taking us back to separate but equal. That is what that feels like," Connelly said. "It's like a punch in the gut. I don't say that as a figure of speech. It feels like that."
SB1100 includes a civil enforcement clause that allows a person who is in a bathroom with someone of the opposite sex - allowed by the school district - to sue the school district for $5,000.
Connelly fears this creates an incentive to target transgender people.
"When I transitioned, I knew there was going to be challenges," Connelly said. "There's a lot of people who would sell us out for 5-thousand dollars even if they weren't really bothered."
Steven Keyser supported SB1100 in his testimony; the bill allows for accommodations and strikes a 'balance' that he can support in good faith.
"They want to be accepted for their physiological gender that they believe is the real them," Keyser told KTVB. "The school is going to be responsible to make sure about the comfort level about a child on any side of this equation."
The accommodations clause of the bill does not detail the specifics of a potential accommodation. The two democrats on committee - Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking (D-Boise) and Sen. Carrie Semmelroth (D-Boise) - voted against the bill.
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