Idaho’s Republican dominated legislature has passed a bathroom ban under which transgender people could face life in prison.

After passing in the state House earlier this month, H.B. 752 was approved by the Senate by a 28–7 vote Friday, with one Republican state senator voting with the chamber’s six Democrats against the measure, according to the Associated Press.

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If signed by Republican Gov. Brad Little, the proposed law will be the fourth in the U.S. — following laws enacted in Florida, Kansas, and Utah — to criminalize transgender people’s use of bathrooms and other sex segregated spaces that do not align with the sex they were assigned at birth.

But as both the AP and Erin in the Morning note, the Idaho bill goes further than those other laws. While Florida, Kansas, and Utah’s laws cover restrooms and changing rooms in government-owned buildings only, Idaho’s also makes it a criminal offense for anyone to use a single-sex space “designated for use by the opposite biological sex of such person” in “a place of public accommodation.” In other words, it applies to private businesses.

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Penalties under H.B. 752 are also notably severe. A first-time violation would result in a misdemeanor charge and up to a year in jail, while a second violation within five years would be a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

And it gets worse. As independent journalist Erin Reed explains, a fourth violation of the law would constitute a third felony conviction, punishable under Idaho’s persistent violator statute by a mandatory minimum of five years and up to life in prison. Reed also notes that H.B. 752 allows prior convictions for violations of other states’ anti-trans bathroom laws to count towards the escalation of penalties in Idaho. If a trans person is convicted in another state, Reed explains, their first violation in Idaho would count as their second, making them subject to stiffer penalties.

Both the Idaho Sheriffs’ Association and the Idaho Fraternal Order of Police opposed H.B. 752, according to Reed, with Fraternal Order of Police President Bryan Lovell warning that “there is no clear or reasonable way” for police officers to enforce the law “without engaging in questioning or investigative actions that could be viewed as invasive and inappropriate.” As KTVB reported earlier this month, both groups urged lawmakers to include a “duty to depart” provision in the bill, which would have prevented law enforcement from arresting people who leave a single-sex space when asked to. While even Florida’s bathroom law includes such a provision, Idaho lawmakers refused to include one in H.B. 752.  

While state Sen. Ben Toews (R), H.B. 752’s sponsor, claims the law is meant to “[deal] with sexual predators,” the ACLU of Idaho cites a 2025 report from the Williams Institute that found no evidence that trans people pose a threat to safety or privacy when using bathrooms that align with their gender identity.

Toews also claims that the bill “isn’t criminalizing someone for who they are,” according to the AP.

But as civil rights attorney Alejandra Caraballo explained on a recent episode of On the Media, that is exactly what these types of laws do.

“A lot of people will just say, ‘Well, you could just use the bathroom of your sex assigned at birth.’ If you’re a trans person, you often don’t look anything like your sex assigned at birth anymore. For trans women, if you go and use the men’s restroom, that puts you at extreme risk of sexual assault, harassment, even violent assault,” Caraballo said. “Ultimately, what that means for trans people is they can’t participate in society because you can only hold going to the bathroom for so long.”

State Sen. Jim Guthrie, the lone Idaho Republican who voted against H.B. 752, echoed Caraballo, using the example of a hypothetical trans man forced to use a women’s public restroom.

“If they go in the bathroom of their biological sex, they’re going to upset a lot of people and freak people out. If they go in the bathroom that is consistent with their looks — they are knowingly and willingly going into the bathroom — that is breaking the law,” Guthrie said, according to the AP. “They’re human beings just like us, and what are they supposed to do?”

State Sen. James Ruchti (D) argued that H.B. 752 is even more draconian than Jim Crow-era segregation laws that banned Black Americans from using the same bathrooms and drinking fountains as white people, but also set up “separate but equal” facilities. “Society realized these are humans, they have a need for bathrooms, they have a need for water,” Ruchti said of segregation laws, according to the AP.

The ACLU of Idaho blasted the law, arguing that it “does nothing to address real criminal acts, such as sexual assault or voyeurism, and disregards concerns from law enforcement about the burden enforcement would place on local resources.” It also noted that H.B. 752 in fact “risks the privacy and dignity of every single Idahoan, as cisgender people who do not conform to rigid gender norms could face accusations, harassment, and arrest for using a public restroom.” Reed cites just such a case in Idaho, in which a cisgender woman testified during a state senate hearing on H.B. 752 that she has been repeatedly asked to prove her sex when using women’s restrooms.

The ACLU of Idaho has called on Gov. Little to veto the bill, the AP reports. According to Reed, Little has not indicated what he will do, but has signed every major piece of anti-trans legislation that has reached his desk. Even if Little doesn’t sign the bill, the AP notes that the Idaho legislature’s Republican supermajority would be able to override his veto.

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