Idaho lawmakers passed a sweeping bathroom ban Friday, approving legislation that would make it a crime for transgender people to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity, even inside privately owned businesses.
If Republican Gov. Brad Little signs the bill, Idaho will have the strictest bathroom ban in the nation, subjecting people to time behind bars if they knowingly enter a bathroom, locker room or changing area that does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth.
Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor and sentenced to a year in jail for a first offense, or a felony with up to five years in prison for a second offense.
It’ll be volunteer checkers, we have no shortage of them here. They’ll use it to harass anyone who doesn’t meet their expectations, which also means that cisgender women who aren’t conventionally “attractive” and effeminate but cis gay men can be hounded as well. It’s all their favorite victims in one and they can avoid consequences for false reporting by pretending like they did so in good faith. Interestingly, the Idaho police lobbies spoke out against this legislation because even they could see that it’s so aggressive and so difficult to gather evidence they didn’t want to deal with it. Shocking, I know.
The police don’t want to deal with it because they know enforcement and prosecution is going to be a widely unpopular clusterfuck and they’re going to be left dealing with the brunt of it. The rhetoric loses its luster when they start going after well-liked community members and people that just had to pee.