US judge limits enforcement of Idaho's transgender bathroom access law

A federal judge on Tuesday barred Idaho from fully enforcing a new state law making it a crime, punishable by up to five years in prison, for transgender people to use public restrooms whose designations differ from their sex assigned at birth.



The Idaho statute, the most restrictive among various laws enacted in about 20 U.S. states limiting access of transgender people to bathrooms conforming with their gender identity, was due to go into effect on July 1.



But U.S. District Judge Amanda Brailsford, sitting in Boise, the state capital, granted a preliminary injunction curtailing the measure's enforcement while a class-action lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the statute proceeds.



Brailsford's order allows transgender individuals to continue using single-stall restrooms matching their gender identity, or to use a multi-stall restroom when a single-stall facility is not available on the same floor of a building.



Otherwise, the state is free to enforce the law as it applies to multi-user bathrooms, as well as to portions of the law covering public locker rooms and shower facilities, which were not subject to the court challenge.