On March 30, the eve of International Transgender Day of Visibility, Idaho’s Republican governor Brad Little signed two bills into law that actively limit the rights of transgender state residents: one that bars people from changing the sex listed on their birth certificates, and another that prohibits trans women and girls from competing in sports that align with their gender, the Associated Press reports.
The first of the roughly 60 bills currently circulating the nation’s state legislatures to pass into law, Idaho’s two-pronged attack on trans rights comes at a time when residents of the state can hardly leave their houses — let alone acquire the necessary materials to change one’s birth certificate or compete in organized sports.
The recently approved legislation (HB500) does not mark the first time Idaho lawmakers have sought to bar their constituents from changing the sex listing on birth certificates. In 2018, a bill with this intended effect was ruled unconstitutional by a federal court. Considering this previous ruling, the acting Idaho Attorney General noted that the new legislation could be “unconstitutional and open to legal challenge,” according to an Idaho Statesman report. (Prior to Monday’s signing, five former Idaho Attorney Generals urged the governor to veto legislation preventing people from amending their birth certificate.)
The main difference between HB500 and the failed 2018 bill is that the new legislation hinges on the government’s alleged need for “accurate, quantitative, biology-based material facts” on Idahoans for record-keeping purposes. But as Vox points out, Idaho already allows changes to other data fields on birth certificates, which clearly poses problems for lawmakers intent on restricting folks’ ability to change their sex marker. Enforcing HB500, therefore, would almost certainly precipitate a lawsuit, one that legal experts estimate could cost the state around $1 million to defend — a cost Idaho Republicans seem willing to pay: “I think we all understand what the costs and what the risks are in making the decision to go forward,” said Republican state Senator Jim Rice.
In a statement, Lambda Legal counsel Peter Renn, a member of the legal team that obtained the 2018 federal court ruling, excoriated the Idaho government’s pursuit of the new laws.
“At each step of the legislative process, from this bill’s introduction in the Idaho House, through the Idaho Senate, and on to the governor’s desk, policymakers were fully aware that they were explicitly flouting a binding federal court order," Renn said. “And the court could not have been clearer: this policy was unconstitutional two years ago, and it is still unconstitutional today. Idaho has deliberately set itself on a collision course with the federal courts. It is in open rebellion against the rule of law.”
The ACLU of Idaho said in a statement, that it, too, would fight what it termed “Brad Little’s decision to sign discriminatory, unconstitutional, and deeply hurtful anti-transgender bills into law.”
“Leaders from the business, faith, medical, education and athletics communities will not forget this decision or what it says about the governor's priorities during a global pandemic. The ACLU will see the governor in court,” the statement said.
Kris Hayashi, executive drector of the Transgender Law Center, echoed the Idaho ACLU’s critique of the bills’ disconcerting prioritization. “Passing laws that single out and attacks trans people, and especially trans youth, at time when our world is grappling with an unprecedented global health crisis is irresponsible and wrong,” Hayashi said.
Decorated athlete and ardent trans activist Chris Mosier (also the first openly trans man to compete in a men’s Olympic trial) offered his apologies to “every trans athlete in Idaho,” writing, “I’m so sorry you will face discrimination at this level until the state loses a lawsuit to overturn it. It is unfair and clearly discrimination.”
The pieces of legislation Governor Little signed on March 30 were two of three anti-trans bills under consideration. The third, a proposal that would make treating gender dysphoria a felony, was killed in committee.
Idaho is now the first state to officially ban trans women and girls from women’s sports. Changes to the sex listing on birth certificates are also banned in Tennessee and, effectively, in Ohio.
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