Idaho Sued Over Anti-Transgender Restroom Ban

metroweekly.com:

school facilities law, which was signed into law by Republican Gov. Brad Little in March and took effect beginning on July 1, requires all public and charter schools serving students in grades K-12 prohibit transgender students from accessing multi-user restrooms and other facilities that do not match their assigned sex at birth.

Beginning in 2016, various schools throughout the state adopted policies allowing transgender students to use facilities matching their gender identity, meaning that some students who previously used restrooms or locker rooms matching their gender identity, without incident, will now be barred from the very same facilities they used the previous school year.The family of the seventh-grader and the student association argue in their lawsuit that the school facilities law discriminates against transgender students on the basis of gender identity and violates their right to privacy.

The plaintiffs have also submitted a motion asking a federal judge to issue an order blocking the state from seeking to enforce the law while the case works its way through the courts.The Idaho law specifically allows students who feel uncomfortable sharing facilities with transgender students to sue schools for $5,000 if they encounter a transgender student using a restroom that does not align with the student’s assigned sex at birth.

Critics have alleged that the law puts a “bounty” on transgender students and encourages others to pursue and seek them out in order to enrich themselves monetarily.The law mimics similar laws that have been passed in other states with Republican-controlled legislatures.