Utah became the latest state to regulate bathroom access for transgender people after Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed a law Tuesday that requires people to use bathrooms and locker rooms in public schools and government-owned buildings that match their sex assigned at birth.

Under the legislation, transgender people can defend themselves against complaints by proving they had gender-affirming surgery and changed the sex on their birth certificate. Opponents noted not all states allow people to change their birth certificates and that many trans people don’t want to have surgery.

The legislation also requires schools to create “privacy plans” for trans students and others who may not be comfortable using group bathrooms, for instance by allowing them to use a faculty bathroom — something opponents say may “out” transgender children.

  • anon6789
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    10 months ago

    For those curious:

    At least 10 other states — Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee — have passed laws that seek to regulate which bathrooms trans people can use, and nine states regulate the bathrooms that trans students can use at school. West Virginia’s Legislature is considering a transgender bathroom bill for students this year.

    In good news though:

    The Utah bill requires any new government buildings to include single-occupant bathrooms and asks that the state consider adding more of the bathrooms to increase privacy protections in existing government buildings.

    Yay! This actually eliminates the whole issue, and you get actual privacy unlike a normal public bathroom!

    It did not provide any funding for such upgrades.

    Facepalm…Nevermind.