IDAHO — A federal judge has blocked Idaho's new restroom law from taking effect, issuing a statewide injunction that prevents enforcement of a measure that would have made it a crime for transgender people to use public restrooms consistent with their gender identity.
Chief U.S. District Judge Amanda Brailsford issued the preliminary injunction on Tuesday, halting enforcement of House Bill 752 less than three weeks before its scheduled July 1 effective date.
H.B. 752 made it a crime for a person to use a public restroom in a government building or business open to the public that does not match their sex assigned at birth. A first violation could be charged as a misdemeanor carrying up to one year in jail. A second offense could be prosecuted as a felony with a sentence of up to five years in prison.
Six transgender Idaho residents, along with the ACLU and other civil rights groups, filed a federal lawsuit in April challenging the law. The plaintiffs argued the measure violated equal protection, due process, and privacy rights, and that its language was too vague to enforce.
READ MORE | ACLU, 6 transgender plaintiffs challenge Idaho restroom law in federal lawsuit
In her ruling, Brailsford granted the injunction and certified a statewide class covering all transgender Idahoans who seek to use a restroom consistent with their gender identity in a government building or public accommodation.
The court found the state's safety justification for the law was not supported by evidence and cited opposition from Idaho law enforcement groups who warned that the measure would be difficult or impossible to enforce.
The preliminary injunction blocks the law for now, but it is not a final ruling on whether H.B. 752 is unconstitutional.
