Cis Male Legislator Quits After Repeatedly Using Women's Restroom

A cisgender male Colorado state senator resigned after multiple complaints from female colleague that he repeatedly used the women's bathroom in the state capitol.

State Sen. Daniel Kagan, a Democrat, resigned months after an investigation determined he'd "more likely than not" used the women's room on at least three different occasions, according to The Denver Post.

Republican Sen. Beth Martinez Humenik made the accusation earlier this year and provided investigators with information from multiple female witnesses that he'd used a private, women's only restroom.

Kagan at the time denied this happened multiple times, and said he'd only mistakenly entered a restroom primarily used by women because it didn't have specific gender signage.

The episode led to new signs designating the bathroom as women-only. But even after the signs were added, the state senator still was found in women's facilities; one female legislator said she encountered Kagan in the bathroom and he appeared intoxicated.

For her part, Humenik said she never called on Kagan to quit over the episode. "I asked for a public apology to all involved, not a resignation," she said through the Senate Republicans' office. "We are all still waiting on his apology."

Kagan did not directly reference the incident in a statement released through the Senate Democrats' office, but said it was time to go. "An important obligation of leaders, I believe, is to be open to acknowledging that it's time to pass the torch to new leadership and, for me, that time is now."

Democrats recently won a Senate majority in Colorado.

The Colorado Legislature recently expelled a Democratic House member who was accused of sexual harassment, but chose not to expel a Republican Senator also facing accusations, according to the Post.