A federal judge seemed skeptical about an Idaho law set to take effect soon that will make it a criminal offense for transgender people to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity.By James Dawson (Boise State Public Radio News)June 8, 2026
You probably are thinking "Yeah, yeah, another anti-trans law!" but keep reading.
The law, which is set to take effect July 1, would make the first offense a misdemeanor, with subsequent offenses committed within five years a felony.ACLU of Idaho lawyer Emily Croston, who represents transgender plaintiffs in the case, said the law is unconstitutionally vague and unenforceable in the real world.“Are we just going to look at folks as they enter a restroom and determine whether or not we think they look enough like a man or a woman? That’s ridiculous,” Croston said.[...]Idaho District Court Judge Amanda Brailsford repeatedly questioned the state attorney general’s office over these points.Deputy Attorney General Michael Zarian acknowledged it will be tough for law enforcement to determine whether a crime has been committed.“It might be difficult on the spot for a police officer to decide. But, if anything, that works in the plaintiff’s favor,” Zarian said, suggesting that fewer people will ultimately be charged.Brailsford also asked how police will interpret out-of-state identification from states that list a person’s gender identity as their given sex.At some point, Zarian said making these determinations will be “easy” by using DNA testing to find out a person’s chromosomal makeup.
All very good questions!
The Advocate reports that...
Idaho Solicitor General Michael Zarian told the judge enforcement should be straightforward “because there is DNA testing.” But that suggestion raises significant questions about privacy rights and what level of suspicion would be required before Idaho authorities could demand that someone submit to genetic testing — a tool more commonly associated with investigating serious crimes such as rape and murder.Zarian went on to tell the judge that a person would not necessarily need to consent before such testing could occur, though he said he doubted anyone would be expected to submit to testing on the spot.
Stop right there... "Say what?" Did he say what I think he said?
Tell me how do you think a cis-gender woman will think about that? That has to prove her womanhood... what an insult! But these Republican men didn't even think about that in their haste to "punish" trans people. But that doesn't trans men in women's bathrooms!
Advocates have long warned that bathroom bans are difficult to enforce without encouraging people to scrutinize the appearance of strangers in public restrooms. Critics say such laws can subject both transgender and cisgender people to harassment when others incorrectly assume someone does not belong in a particular facility.Such incidents have already occurred. In 2025, a Black cisgender lesbian in Arizona said sheriff’s deputies confronted her in a Walmart restroom after someone mistakenly believed she was transgender. Most notably, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina and U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado confronted a cisgender woman in a Capitol restroom after mistakenly believing she was transgender U.S. Congresswoman Sarah McBride of Delaware.
Blinded by the hate! In their rabid attack on anything trans they don't think of the ramifications. They have blinders on they are so focused on us. Look at what they did in Kansas, they took back all the driver licenses from trans people. They knew the optics of the bill wasn't good to so they ramrodded it through with very little public debates in hearings nor on the floor of the legislature... i.e. They tried to sneak it though.
Lambda Legal had this to say about the law and you will be surprised who's opposed to the law,
“This law is a dangerous and discriminatory effort to push transgender people out of public life,” said Barbara Schwabauer, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. “If you cannot use the restroom at work, you cannot go to work. If you cannot use the restroom at school, you cannot go to school. H.B. 752 undermines the freedom of our clients to live their lives with dignity, and we will do all we can to block it completely.”The Idaho Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and the Idaho Chiefs of Police Association opposed H.B. 752, noting there is no “clear or reasonable way” to determine a person’s sex at birth during a field contact without engaging in “invasive and inappropriate” questioning or searches.Analyses of public safety data have found policies inclusive of transgender people’s access to public accommodations have no impact on rates of harassment or violence, but policies restrictive of their access have increased transgender people’s already heightened risks for harassment and violence. Transgender people are four times as likely as their cisgender counterparts to be victimized by violence.
The police chiefs know that this is a bad law.
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