Kentucky Bill Would Let Students Sue Over Trans Presence in Restrooms

A bill introduced in Kentucky would keep transgender students from using restrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity -- and allow students to sue if they encounter a trans student in such spaces.

Rep. David Hale, a Republican, prefiled the bill last week for consideration in the state's upcoming legislative session, which begins January 7, The Courier-Journal of Louisville reports. It claims that allowing trans students to use the sex-segregated spaces aligning with their gender identity creates "a significant potential for disruption of school activities and unsafe conditions" as well as "potential embarrassment, shame and psychological injury" for cisgender students. It dubs the situation an emergency.

Trans students who request accommodations with parental consent could be allowed use of a single-stall restroom, a unisex restroom, or faculty facilities, but not "student restrooms, locker rooms, or shower rooms designated for use by students of the opposite biological sex while students of the opposite biological sex are present or could be present," the legislation reads.

School officials would be responsible for enforcing the policy, and if any student encounters a trans student in one of the forbidden facilities, they could take legal action against their school district. "The offending school shall be civilly liable to a student who is aggrieved under this subsection and who prevails in a court of jurisdiction prescribed by paragraph (b) of this subsection. The student shall be entitled to recover from the offending school any costs, expenses, and fees, including attorney's fees, associated with the claim," the bill says.

Trending stories

Here's how to watch Lady Gaga at Coachella & full livestream schedule

From Z to APT: Here's who won the 'Drag Race' S17 Lip Sync Smackdown

Robert Irwin is stripping down & rocking tiny briefs in new underwear campaign

Gerald Garth is keeping people of color happy and healthy through trying times

Elon Musk uses burner accounts on X, doesn’t fact-check: report

France becomes world’s first country to enshrine abortion rights in constitution

Lady Gaga is bringing 'Gothic dreams,' queer joy to Coachella

Broadway's best raise over $1 million for LGBTQ+ and HIV causes

French Polynesia doesn’t need Pride flags to earn its place on every LGBTQ+ bucket list

Trump's orders prompt CDC to erase HIV resources

JoJo Siwa updates pronouns on 'Celebrity Big Brother UK'

Bobby Berk reveals his favorite part about being gay: 'The sex!'

Season 4 of The Switch on resilience & radical self-love returns this spring

In 'Happy Endings with Bruno,' a 'Drag Race' stud offers a massage with a message

'Survivor' star Teeny Chirichillo comes out as trans in candid new essay

Discover the power of Wellness in your life

Out and About with Karan Soni

Broadway bound: The best hotels in NYC’s Theater District for every type of traveler

Beyond Wonderland's accepting & unifying rave culture is needed more than ever

The Charles is Pacific Grove's new LGBTQ+ hotel

How climate disasters hurt mental health in young people

All 6 rogue Mississippi cops got long prison sentences in 'Goon Squad' torture of 2 Black men

Joe Biden has tied the record for most LGBTQ+ judges confirmed in federal courts

15 lesbian coming-of-age movies that will hit you right in the feels

23 brutally funny 'Hands Off' protest signs that prove the resistance is alive & hilarious

The Courier-Journal could not reach Hale for comment, but it did speak to a representative of the Fairness Campaign, a statewide LGBTQ group, who blasted the bill for ostracizing and endangering transgender students.

"At the end of the day, what that says is 'You are so different that the only accommodation we are willing to make is to make you use a special restroom, a different restroom, which once more isolates the transgender youth and makes them additionally vulnerable targets," Fairness Campaign Director Chris Hartman said.

"So if I am the only trans kid in school and I can only use the single-stall locking bathroom on the third floor, everybody knows that that's where I'm gonna go to the restroom," he added. "And again, it's easy to target someone if that's what you're looking for."