Despite zero evidence that transgender people pose a threat in public bathrooms, we have seen an alarming rise in legislation across the country that bans trans folks from using the bathrooms, showers, and changing rooms that align with their gender identity.
Anti-trans bathroom policies are one piece of a larger, coordinated assault on the freedom of trans people to navigate public life with safety and dignity. In Idaho and across the country, we have seen similar types of legislation that restrict the rights of trans people in health care, sports, voting, and personal identification (birth certificates, passports, driver’s licenses, etc).
Idaho politicians have positioned themselves as leaders in this calculated strategy to chip away at the rights of trans people. Each year, a more restrictive anti-trans bathroom law is passed that expands on the previous one:
- In 2023, lawmakers started by passing Senate Bill 1100, forcing all public K-12 schools to restrict bathrooms and changing rooms by sex assigned at birth, pushing trans students into separate, “private” facilities. Despite a legal challenge from Lambda Legal, SB 100 is still in effect as of March 2026.
- In 2025, House Bill 264 extended restrictions for trans folks to certain state-run buildings: colleges, universities, correctional facilities, and domestic violence shelters. This mandates that bathrooms, changing rooms, and sleeping quarters be restricted for use based on sex assigned at birth. Although this law was also challenged in court by Lambda Legal, HB 264 is still in effect.
- In 2026, bathroom bans reached an unprecedented level. Two bathroom bills were introduced that would force all government buildings and places of public accommodation to restrict bathrooms by sex assigned at birth. One of these bills would create new crimes for a trans person who uses a gender-aligned bathroom, with the second offense resulting in up to five years in prison.
The Facts About Trans People and Bathrooms
These bathroom laws are always presented under the guise of “protecting women’s safety and privacy.” So, what does the evidence say about trans people and bathrooms?
Contrary to rampant misinformation on this topic, there is no evidence that transgender individuals accessing gender-aligned bathrooms are a threat to safety or privacy.
A 2025 study conducted by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law in 2025 analyzed reports of violent victimization perpetrated by strangers across the country, focusing specifically on safety and privacy violations. They compared data in states with and without trans-inclusive bathroom policies and found no evidence that violent victimization by strangers increased in places where transgender people could legally access restrooms matching their gender identity.
Another study from 2018 made the same conclusion: Allowing trans people to access the bathroom that matches their gender identity does not threaten the safety and privacy of cisgender people.
What research has consistently shown is that rhetoric and policies around bathrooms threaten the health and safety of all trans people:
- Research consistently finds that transgender people report negative experiences like harassment and violence when accessing public bathrooms.
- Transgender people face increased risks when required to use bathrooms according to their sex assigned at birth.
- Half of transgender and non-binary people avoid using public bathrooms due to fear of negative experiences. Many of them say this avoidance has caused negative physical effects from “holding it” when they need to use the restroom and not eating or drinking to avoid using public facilities.
Bathroom laws don’t improve safety and privacy in public restrooms. They only serve to exclude transgender people from public life and put them in dangerous situations.
The Harm of Bathroom Bans
Discrimination Against Trans People
All anti-trans bathroom bans disproportionately impact transgender Idahoans by denying them equal access to public spaces and making it a crime for them to be in a bathroom that aligns with their gender identity.
The evidence shows us that these bans do not protect anyone’s safety or privacy. Idaho already has laws for misconduct that could take place in a public restroom, such as sexual assault, indecent exposure, and harassment. These bathroom laws do not expand those crimes. Rather, these bans only serve to discriminate against the trans community by stripping them of their dignity and bodily autonomy and fueling a dangerous narrative that merely encountering a perceived trans person in public is damaging.
Increased Risk of Violence, Harassment, and Gender Policing
Transgender people are already four times more likely than cisgender people to be victims of violent crime, such as rape, sexual assault, and aggravated assault.
By forcing trans people into facilities that don’t align with their gender identity, they are at an even higher risk of being victimized. For example, trans women forced into men’s facilities face extreme risk of assault, and trans men forced into women’s facilities will be outed and placed in vulnerable situations.
Additionally, these laws can violate the safety and privacy of cisgender people:
- Cisgender people who don’t conform to gender norms can be targeted, including men with long hair and cisgender women and girls with short hair, naturally broader shoulders, or masculine presentation.
- These types of laws might encourage people to take pictures and videos of others in public bathrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms. This is a huge invasion of privacy that can negatively impact everyone.
In general, these types of laws increase surveillance and policing of physical appearance, regardless of someone's gender identity. Anyone who might not perfectly fit into someone’s ideal gender presentation can be targeted, harassed, and have their privacy invaded.
Burdens on Businesses and Public Institutions
Most of the bathroom legislation in Idaho places significant burdens on businesses and public institutions. These laws often create a private right of action that allows anyone to sue an entity if they believe they have encountered a trans person in the “wrong” bathroom, locker room, or changing room.
This opens public schools, universities, domestic violence shelters, small businesses, and more to costly litigation and federal violations (Title IX, ADA, etc) that can severely affect their ability to operate. When public institutions and local businesses are forced to engage in these expensive and unnecessary lawsuits, taxpayers and customers foot the bill.
We will always affirm that trans people deserve the same rights as everyone else, including access to public spaces. If we allow discrimination against the trans community, we set a precedent that all Idahoans’ civil liberties are fair game for dismantling.
Resources for Transgender Idahoans
- SB 1100 Fact Sheet - What to know about Idaho’s discriminatory school facilities law
- HB 264 Fact Sheet - What to know about Idaho’s anti-trans restrictions in certain public spaces
- Know Your Rights as a Trans Person in Idaho
If you believe your rights have been violated as a trans person in Idaho, please contact the ACLU of Idaho.
In addition to our work at the ACLU of Idaho, there are other local organizations engaging in important work around trans rights.
