SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Utah bill that would put limits on transgender people from accessing public restrooms is one step closer to becoming law after it passed through the Senate Business and Labor Committee on Monday, on a 5-3 vote.
H.B. 257, officially known as Sex-Based Designations for Privacy, Anti-Bullying, and Women’s Opportunities, will now go to the full Senate for a vote.
The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Kera Birkeland and Sen. Daniel McCay, would prevent transgender people from using publicly owned or funded bathrooms that differ from the sex they were assigned at birth.
Birkeland said the bill does not target any specific group, claiming it creates privacy for all Utahns.
“Women and men across Utah want privacy. We want to make sure that when people go into private places to do private things, they get just that,” Birkeland said.
Some Utahns remain concerned, however, saying the bill could put both trans and non-trans people at risk.
“If you have a slightly masculine-looking woman or an effeminate-looking man, what’s stopping them from being accosted?” asked Samantha Parmley, acting chair of the Utah LGBTQ+ Chamber.
The bill exempts transgender people who have undergone sexual reassignment surgery and for those who have legally changed their sex on their birth certificate.
