March 19 2026, 08:15 
A trans man in Idaho dismantled the latest “bathroom bill” up for a vote in the Idaho legislature, laying out point by point why it was unworkable, unfair, and cruel.
Boise resident Nixon Matthews used his own example of trying to use a restroom if the bill were enacted into law.
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“I want to walk through what this looks like for me,” he told legislators at a hearing on House Bill 752.
“Say, one of the men here walks into the men’s bathroom, and you see me walk into a stall, and you know I’m trans. And since you’re all law-abiding citizens, you’re going to call 911. You’re going to say, ‘Hello, 911? There’s a trans person in the bathroom. They’re peeing right now, I’m scared. Please come and arrest them.'”
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If he doesn’t want to be arrested, Matthews said, he’d have to use a women’s room instead.
“Say I happen to walk behind a woman, and her husband sees someone who looks like me following his wife into the bathroom,” Matthews continued. “What do you think happens next? Maybe the cops get called. But more likely, that man is going to follow me into the bathroom, confront me, and even assault me.”
“So every single day,” Matthews said, “when I’m out in public, I have to decide: do I feel like going to jail today, or do I feel like being attacked?”
He broke down other injustices in the legislation.
A first offense would carry a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison, for anyone who “knowingly and willfully” enters a bathroom or changing room designated for the opposite sex. A second offense ups the penalty to a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.
If Matthews was attacked for entering a bathroom that aligned with his sex at birth, he noted in his Instagram post, the perpetrator would face a lighter punishment than Matthews would if he used a men’s room: just three months in jail.
Idaho state Rep. Chris Mathias (D) agreed the bill was unfair and potentially dangerous.
“The truth of the matter is — and I know a lot of people don’t want to say it, but — forcing people who don’t look like the sex that they were born with, or transgender folks, forcing them to use other people’s bathrooms is going to put a lot of people in danger,” the Idaho Capital Sun quoted Mathias.
The punitive bill is also a burden on cops, Matthews told lawmakers.
“So let’s think about the situation they’re walking into: I look like a man. Everyone in the restroom sees a bearded man using the men’s bathroom. But the only reason I’m being investigated is because someone knows, or thinks, that I’m trans.”
Police organizations told lawmakers that making that determination, and following through on an arrest, was problematic.
“Officers responding to a complaint would be placed in the difficult position of determining an individual’s biological sex in order to enforce the statute,” Idaho Fraternal Order of Police President Bryan Lovell wrote in testimony provided to the committee. “In many circumstances, there is no clear or reasonable way for officers to make that determination without engaging in questioning or investigative actions that could be viewed as invasive and inappropriate.”
The Idaho Sheriffs’ Association asked lawmakers to amend the bill to offer the person accused of being in a restroom unlawfully the chance to leave when asked by law enforcement.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Cornel Rasor (R), claimed he’s addressed law enforcement concerns, but the bill wasn’t amended before a vote.
The bill passed on Monday, 54-15. It now heads to the Idaho Senate for consideration, where Republicans hold a remarkable 29-6 super-majority.
Republican Gov. Brad Little hasn’t indicated if he’ll sign the measure.
“Trans people make up point .04% of Idaho’s population,” Matthews said in his testimony. “In the past five years, this body has passed 17 laws targeting trans rights — five this session.
“So I just ask, when is it enough? When do we reach the point when it’s been enough?” he asked.
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