#idleg

WHAT TO KNOW

about the Anti-Trans Bathroom Law enacted temporarily blocked in Idaho for K-12 Students

#separateisnotequal #idleg #idpol

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QUESTION:

Are trans students currently allowed to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity in

Idaho?

Yes! On July 1st, 2023, a new law passed by the Idaho Legislature went into effect; the new law bans transgender students in public K-12 schools from using restrooms and changing facilities that match their gender.

Under the new law, students and their parents may ask for

"reasonable accommodations," and schools are legally required to accommodate the student.

However, a decision on August 10th by a U.S. District Court temporarily blocked the law from going into effect.

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Ongoing Lawsuit

A group of Boise High School students (represented by Lambda Legal and partners) filed a legal challenge to the new law.

Because this law is being challenged in the courts, things can often change. It's best to check in with Lamda Legal and other organizations like ACLU Idaho, Add the Words, and Legal Voice to know your rights as the case progresses.

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WHAT TO KNOW

If this law was still in effect, it would apply to locker rooms, bathrooms, and changing facilities. Students would only have been able to request a

"reasonable accommodation" from their schools.

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QUESTION:

What can you do to combat this discriminatory law?

Know your rights.

Share this information with a friend

Support trans and gender non-conforming students.

Nate said he was concerned about proposed rule changes from the state Department of Environmental Quality that include incorporating by reference a series of federal regulations regarding the federal Clean Air Act and air quality. “The whole incorporation by reference process is one that has bothered me for a long time,” Nate said. He noted that Idaho state law requires Idaho’s environmental regulations to be no more stringent than those of the federal government, but they also have to be as stringent. “That tells me we are going to do whatever the federal government tells us to do on this issue,” he said. “So in essence, the federal government is controlling our laws.” He asked the DEQ’s Air Quality Division administrator, Tiffany Floyd, “Can you tell us where the constitutional authority is for the federal government to set laws for Idaho’s environmental quality?”

She responded, “It’s through the Clean Air Act that those requirements exist for EPA to follow all those national requirements … and if it’s not EPA doing that, and ensuring that the Clean Air Act is met, then a state can be granted primacy to implement it for their own state. That is what we are doing here. That is the underlying requirement.”

Committee Chairman Dell Raybould, R-Rexburg, said, “We’ve gone through this in other years, time and time again. If we do not conform with these rules, then Idaho DEQ has no authority to administer any of them, and it would be left strictly up to the EPA to come in and administer these rules and take the authority away from our department. … I guess you’re caught in a mousetrap here, but at least we have our own people to work with rather than someone from Washington, D.C., to make it more feasible and convenient for Idaho citizens.”