SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah State Senate has approved last versions of two contentious bills on transgender bathroom access and replacing practices of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on college campuses.
Two Republicans joined Democrats in opposing House Bill 257, which deals with bathroom access for transgender people. Provisions were removed from the bill on Wednesday and reinserted on Thursday, resulting in confusion.
The replacement bill, House Bill 261, was approved 23 to 6 along party lines.
The bills have been amended, so they are now being sent to the House. The bills will then be delivered to Governor Spencer Cox’s desk if representatives approve the modifications. The Senate would have to consent to any additional modifications made in the House.
On Wednesday in the Senate, HB257, which at first sought to limit access to gender designated at birth in public restrooms, underwent a significant revision. It removed that contentious clause but kept some limitations in locker room changing places and facilities at public schools. In what its sponsors insist is focusing on people’s actions rather than gender identity, the new bill strengthens nuisance and voyeurism laws. Additionally, the bill calls for more mixed facilities in new public buildings and, when possible, retrofitting existing ones.
However, it appears that the most recent version of the bill now prohibits transgender people from using a common room in accordance with their gender identity until they have fully transitioned. Some people were frustrated and angry by the maneuver. Numerous LGBTQ rights protesters demonstrated on Thursday outside the Capitol.
Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, the bill’s Senate sponsor, told reporters after the vote that “it was not intended to be OK for anybody to utilize every bathroom.” “For this reason, we affix signage to the outside that read ‘men’s’ and ‘women’s.'”
However, there is no clear penalty for breaking the law; instead, it focuses on actions, such as voyeurism or lewdness, if the offender is committing a crime in the restroom or locker room. Additionally, the bill does not specify what private companies may do with their facilities.
If the governor signs the bill into law, it might also be subject to a lawsuit.
“More and more nonbinary and transgender people are willing to live openly and find the language to articulate their own experience every day. They belong to our communities and should not be subject to ongoing political attacks,” according to a statement to FOX 13 News from the Utah ACLU. “We will use every tool at our disposal, including legal action when necessary, to support their civil rights and liberties from powerful politicians infringing on these freedoms with each attack on the rights of transgender Utahns — in healthcare, sports, recognition, and now public spaces.”
In federal job applications and workshops, HB261 forbids “diversity statements” that prioritize one race, gender, or citizenship over another and are “ideological.” Its most contentious clause forbids the use of the terms “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” and replaces DEI offices on Utah college and university campuses with all-encompassing “Student Success Centers.”
Scholarships for individuals or student organizations on university campuses will not be impacted by the bill. The bill’s sponsor in the Senate, Sen. Keith Grover, R-Provo, added that it would not affect how the University of Utah interacts with the Ute Tribe.
Sen. Grover told FOX 13 News, “Real but not true,” when asked if little fundamentally changes other than a title change getting rid of “DEI.” Additionally, you’ll have a service program for all students deemed to be at risk.
Both bills were criticized by House and Senate Democrats at a press conference on Thursday after they were both passed by the Senate.
“To support and protect our marginalized and vulnerable communities, we will stand up,” Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, said that these bills would merely push us backward. “We’re not going anywhere. Sending the wrong message that they don’t belong in Utah, specifically the economic impact and the impact on our children. It’s extremely, extremely concerning.”
D-Salt Lake City House Minority Leader Angela Romero urged voters to cast ballots in the upcoming election.
“If this angers people, it’s up to us to change who represents us up here at the Capitol,” she said.
