The legislation takes aim directly at trans individuals using the restroom or locker rooms, threatening those who “knowingly” and “willfully” enter facilities designated for the “opposite biological sex” with prison time. A first offense would count as a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. Those caught using the bathroom in repeated offenses, however, could be convicted as felons and face up to five years in prison.
It’ll be interesting to see how this aligns with the Full Faith and Credit clause for someone who updates their birth certificate from another state that allows for that then uses the bathroom that aligns with said certificate.
I live in upstate NY. Back in the 1980s (yeah, I’m old), we had this little bar up on University called The Generic Bar * the G Bar. Anyhow they had 3 bathrooms, Boys, Girls and Both. Our local mall has three as well but they call one of them “family” restrooms which I think can be used for anyone as they are private. In my entire life as a female, I have never felt threatened in a public bathroom (well, maybe a little intimidated by an attendant to leave a tip). It is ridiculous. Like, maybe Idaho should make some public safety laws on gun ownership like require training and maybe insurance. In the event your gun is not secured, and it stolen or used by another in a crime, the victim (or their family) could collect on that insurance… I am just saying, perhaps they have bigger problems.
The best bathroom I’ve seen is at a nearby brewery. One bathroom for everyone. Toilets on the right, urinals on the left, signs designating which side is which. Each has a stall, with floor-to-ceiling doors and a sturdy lock. It looks more like a locker room from outside the stalls. There’s big circular sink on the way out, with a mirror and shelf on a nearby wall. It’s extremely private in the place you actually do your business, but the remaining area is very visible from the outside and there’s plenty of people around given everyone’s sharing the same space. I cannot imagine a safer way to lay out a bathroom. It’s amazing what happens when you give people privacy.
“oh but what if people shoot up in there” - Sharps disposal box. If someone is shooting up in there, they probably shouldn’t be, but if they are, there’s a safe way to dispose of it. I promise nobody looks at a sharps disposal and decides to start using now that there’s a place to dispose of the needle. Really nice for people who take prescribed medications by injection, too.
“oh but it’s too expensive” - I’ve been lucky to travel enough to see less developed places I didn’t know the customs or language of with bath"rooms" more akin to bath"sides-of-buildings" that I STILL felt safer in than American bathrooms because they have a REAL FUCKING STALL. They’re gender-neutral mostly because (shocker) two bathrooms tend to be more expensive to build and maintain than one.
If legislators really cared about this issue, they’d put resources toward remodeling public bathrooms to at least have decent stalls and better visibility. They aren’t doing that, so that’s not what this is about. It’s just an easy way to pick on a minority by way of creating a boogey-trans-man - Republican business as usual.