Meagan Bertelsen and Shannon march hand-in-hand as people rally in support of transgender rights at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on the first day of the legislative session, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
In a committee hearing that ended in tears, outbursts and disappointment, a bill that would change university housing policies for transgender students passed out of the Utah House, Business, Labor and Commerce Committee Thursday.
The substitute bill from Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain, would require public universities that provide on-campus housing to only rent sex-designated rooms to biological females and biological males. The original bill, which was changed about an hour before the committee meeting, had allowed exceptions for students who would be able to provide an amended birth certificate and had undergone gender-transition surgery.
Gricius told the committee that HB269 is “common sense” legislation that would provide greater privacy for students in on-campus housing.
“Many of our college students choose to live in housing that’s specifically designated for males or females, and oftentimes it’s a vulnerable time in life” Gricius said. “It’s not fair to these students to create that expectation of privacy and then assign them to live with someone who shares their gender identity but whose biology matches the opposite sex.
The bill came after a viral social media post where a mother of a Utah State University student complained to the school because her daughter was sharing a common space with a transgender resident assistant, who had been randomly assigned to live in the dorm.
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During the public comment portion of the hearing, Avery Saltzman, the USU student who switched apartments after learning her suitemate was transgender, and her mother, Cheryl Saltzman, shared their support for the bill.
“These dorms are meant to serve as a home away from home as we pursue higher education,” Avery said. “It puts women in a position where we have to decide to put ourselves at risk for being accepting or face social persecution for wanting basic privacy.”
Marina Lowe, policy director for Equality Utah, said most university students are adults and should be learning how to cross paths with people from different backgrounds and perspectives.
“It’s certainly our hope that our students, as they begin their adult journeys, are equipped with the skills to problem solve, engage with those with differing perspectives even when this leads to discomfort, and confront and resolve challenges as they present themselves,” she said.
A long line of speakers opposed the bill during public comment.
Another USU student, Sophie Anderson, told lawmakers she was not only speaking for herself, but also for the resident assistant who has been the subject of much backlash since Saltzman made her Facebook post.
“I would like to ask those voting on this bill and other bills attacking trans individuals if they have met and genuinely gotten to know a trans individual,” she said. “Because never have I or anyone I know, have felt threatened by a trans woman. In fact, they are some of my closest friends and some of the most kindest people I know.”
McKinsey Robertson, the resident assistant’s mother, also shared her thoughts on HB269, adding that when her daughter moved in as a randomly assigned resident assistant, she had been excited to meet other young women and hopefully make new friends.
“Being afraid of someone different from yourself is no reason to bully them and attempt to push them out,” she said. “I’m in shock at the treatment my daughter has received by grown adults who have put her safety at significant risk. I am appalled at the writers of this bill for holding the safety of other girls over the safety of mine.”
Currently, several public universities including USU and the University of Utah provide both co-ed and gendered housing options for students. Both schools rely on a student’s personal selection for housing assignments.
HB269 also has “cleanup” changes for last year’s HB257, the law that restricts people to only using bathrooms that align with their sex assigned at birth when in government buildings.
Specifically, HB269 removes the exception that someone could provide documentation to access a “sex designated privacy space,” which is defined as a publicly owned restroom or changing room that is designated specifically for females or males.
“There were a couple instances where that got a little bit sticky, so we’re pulling that out just to clear up any confusion,” Gricius said.
Lawmakers said the bill was well thought out and reasonable expectations of privacy are “fundamental pillars of law.”
“I would like to think someday there’s a world where everybody can be comfortable with everybody, and that would be great, but that’s not the world we live in today, and I do think that that means that everybody needs to have an option that allows them to feel comfortable and safe, whether you’re a man, woman, transgender, intersex, whatever, there needs to be an option for you to feel safe,” Rep. Norman Thurston, R-Provo, said. “And I think that this is getting us there, or at least closer there, I don’t know if it’s perfect.”
Near the end of the meeting and before voting took place, one individual in the crowd yelled “Your discomfort does not protect our safety. Trans lives matter. Language matters,” and promptly walked out of the room. Some of those who had attended the meeting to oppose the bill wiped tears from their eyes as, for the fourth year in a row, a bill related to the rights of transgender individuals was sent to the House.
After the bill passed out of the committee, 13-2, the ACLU of Utah released a statement from Ellie Menlove, legislative and policy counsel.
“Lawmakers claim this bill protects women and privacy, but removing the exceptions in the substitute bill reveals its true intent: to erase trans people from public life,” Menlove said. “These attacks harm not only trans people but anyone perceived as a threat by leaders who are supposed to represent all of us. Do you really want politicians in your bedroom?”
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