Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed a bill on Tuesday prohibiting men from accessing public facilities designated for women, including restrooms and locker rooms.
The bill (HB 257) is titled the “Sex-based Designations for Privacy, Anti-bullying, and Women’s Opportunities” act. The Utah House of Representatives passed the bill by an overwhelming margin of 58-16 on Jan. 26; the Utah Senate passed the bill 20-8 on the same day.
The bill stipulates that in public school locker rooms and bathrooms, and public changing rooms, “an individual may only access [it] … if the individual’s sex corresponds with the sex designation” of the restroom or locker room.
However, the act provides exceptions for those who have legally amended their birth certificate and have undergone a “primary sex characteristic surgical procedure … to correspond with the sex designation” of the restroom or locker room.
Gov. Cox signed the bill on Jan. 30.
“We want public facilities that are safe and accommodating for everyone and this bill increases privacy protections for all,” the governor said in a statement after signing the bill.
Two years ago, Gov. Cox vetoed a Save Girls’ Sports bill – HB 11 – which was designed to protect females from being forced to compete against biological males.
Following the governor’s decision, it took the Utah state legislature only 30 minutes to override the veto and enact the bill.
When it comes to protecting girls’ and women’s sports, and female private spaces, you would hope such policies would be supported unanimously.
But such isn’t the case in our day and age.
Famed Christian financial guru and radio host Dave Ramsey says, “Common sense is now so rare, having it is like having a superpower.”
This is certainly true when it comes to the issues covered by HB11 and HB 257. What previous generations of Americans accepted as uncontested – that men and women are biologically distinct and should therefore have separate restrooms, locker rooms and sports – must now be regulated by state law.
This is unfortunate, but it is the reality of the time in which we live.
Thankfully, in the Beehive State, women and girls are now more protected from men seeking to enter their restrooms and locker rooms.
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