Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, a Republican, has signed a bill into law allowing people to sue if they encounter a member of the opposite sex — which, as defined by the bill, includes any transgender person — in certain single-sex, multi-occupancy restrooms or changing rooms, or if they have to share sleeping quarters with one in a state prison.
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House Bill 72, which Gordon signed quietly Monday and which goes into effect July 1, applies to facilities in buildings owned, overseen, or leased by a governmental entity. Titled the Protecting Women’s Privacy in Public Spaces Act, it does not apply to K-12 public schools but does apply to the University of Wyoming and community colleges. State and private prisons are included but not local jails. It applies to both males and females, as designated by reproductive characteristics.
Those who encounter a trans person or a member of the opposite sex in one of these settings has a cause of action to sue the governmental entity overseeing it if the entity did not take reasonable steps to restrict access. “Reasonable steps may include but are not limited to posting appropriate signage and adopting policies and procedures for the enforcement of the provisions of this act,” says an amendment to the measure.
“This bill ensures that women and girls can feel safe and respected in places where privacy is essential — bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, and correctional facilities,” its lead sponsor, Republican Rep. Martha Lawley, wrote in a column for the Powell Tribune in December.
“We have all heard stories of discomfort and fear when policies aren’t clear, leaving institutions scrambling to balance privacy concerns with the risk of lawsuits. It’s time for the Legislature to act. The Protecting Women’s Privacy in Public Spaces Act provides clarity and creates consistent policies that prioritize privacy and safety.”
The American Civil Liberties Union's Wyoming affiliate denounced the legislation. ''Like previous efforts to expel people of color, people with disabilities, and others from communal spaces, these arguments for privacy just mask a fear of difference. Eroding the fundamental rights of transgender people is dangerous for every one of us,'' said an ACLU statement quoted by radio station KGAB.
Lawley is also backing a bill to extend the state’s trans-exclusionary sports law, which now applies to grades 7-12, to intercollegiate sports. It has passed the House and Senate with some differences, which will have to be rectified before it goes to the governor.
She characterizes her anti-trans bills as protections for women, but she has supported legislation to make abortion inaccessible in the state. She backed a bill that Gordon signed into law in February requiring clinics that provide surgical abortions to be licensed as surgery centers — something that medical professionals say is unnecessary and that would require expensive remodeling at Wyoming’s only full-service abortion clinic, the Associated Press reports. That clinic, Wellspring Health Access in Casper, is performing no surgical or medication abortions while awaiting the outcome of a suit it filed to challenge the law, according to the AP. A ban on both surgical and medication abortions was struck down by a Wyoming judge last year, but the state has appealed the ruling.
