SALT LAKE CITY — A pair of bills filed in the Utah State Legislature seek to limit the access of transgender people using public restrooms and locker rooms.
But one seeks to increase the availability of more private, unisex restroom facilities in an effort at compromise with LGBTQ+ rights advocates.
Rep. Kera Birkeland, R-Morgan, has filed House Bill 257, that she said would require public facilities to expand the number of private changing areas and restrooms.
"You need to use the restroom that aligns with your sex at birth, and if you aren’t comfortable or if you don’t want to be in that restroom, that’s OK," she said in a recent interview with FOX 13 News. "We're going to make sure that in the state of Utah we provide that single occupancy stall for you."
Rep. Birkeland said the exception for a transgender person to use a public restroom or changing area consistent with their gender identity would be if that person has fully transitioned, including gender-affirmation surgery and a gender marker change on their birth certificate.
Rep. Birkeland said she wanted to expand the number of unisex, single occupancy restroom and changing spaces because constituents are wanting more privacy instead of a group restroom with a number of stalls or open showering spaces. She said she was told by LGBTQ+ rights groups that a majority of transgender people use those single spaces as well.
"We need to have more of these single-occupancy accommodations, and with this bill it just says when you’re rebuilding, when you’re doing a retrofit, you need to have that in there. The code will require you to have that at time," Rep. Birkeland told FOX 13 News.
On Utah's Capitol Hill, there is a mixture of restrooms on every floor including some unisex places. Utah's landmark religious freedom and LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination law, passed in 2015, allows transgender employees to use restroom facilities consistent with their gender identity. Rep. Birkeland said she was unsure how her proposed legislation this year would impact that.
The bill does not apply to private businesses.
Rep. Birkeland is not the only lawmaker to address this issue. On Thursday, Rep. Phil Lyman, R-Blanding, filed House Bill 253. His bill has similar language. Both bills it a crime of criminal trespass if a person uses a restroom or changing facility that is not consistent with their sex assigned at birth.
Rep. Birkeland, who previously sponsored a bill prohibiting transgender girls from participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity (which the state is now being sued over), said she has been negotiating this bill's language with LGBTQ+ rights groups like Equality Utah.
In a statement to FOX 13 News, Equality Utah said it still had concerns with this and other bills targeting the transgender community.
"At the heart of both bills, are restrictions on the ability for trans people to use restrooms, a necessity as part of the human condition. These bills, as currently drafted, raise substantial legal and practical concerns for the state, as well as make life incredibly difficult for trans Utahns. Regardless of whether we can reach agreement on the language in, or policy behind, these bills, Rep. Birkeland has shown a willingness to hear our concerns and we will continue to engage with her on HB 257," the group said.
