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 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.
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 the measure would be difficult or impossible to enforce.
READ MORE | ACLU, 6 transgender plaintiffs challenge Idaho restroom law in federal lawsuit
Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, whose office is defending the law, pushed back on the ruling in a statement provided to Idaho News 6.
"This is a results-driven decision that misapplies the law, confuses the issues, and misrepresents the position of the State," Labrador said. "Biological sex is not vague, and neither is this law."
Labrador said his office plans to appeal and characterized the ruling as limited in scope.
"The good news is that this ruling is narrow," Labrador said. "Idaho's law remains enforceable in most settings, including changing rooms and many restrooms. The injunction applies only in limited circumstances and to certain people. My office will appeal, and we will keep fighting until this commonsense protection is fully enforced."
The preliminary injunction blocks some aspects of the law for now, but it is not a final ruling on whether H.B. 752 is unconstitutional.
