Lawsuit challenging Idaho's bathroom bill dismissed after student plaintiff dies by suicide

Idaho’s 2023 bathroom law is permanently in effect statewide after a federal lawsuit challenging the anti-trans provisions was dismissed. The dismissal followed the death of one plaintiff and the graduation of another. The law bars students from using bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender assigned at birth. It also allows students to sue schools if they encounter a trans person in a public restroom or changing facility, with a minimum fine of $5,000. The state defended the law as protecting student privacy. Plaintiffs argued the law violates the 14th Amendment equal protection clause and Title IX by discriminating against trans students. A trans student identified as Jane Doe described fear of being outed when using a single-user restroom.

"Attorneys for the Sexuality and Gender Alliance, a student group at Boise High School, and the state agreed to dismiss the lawsuit in federal court on Wednesday following the death of one plaintiff and the high-school graduation of another, per Idaho Education News."

"Now in effect as of May 2025, the law bans students from using bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender assigned at birth and also permits students to sue schools if they encounter a trans person in a public restroom or changing facility for a minimum fine of $5,000, per Boise State Public Radio."

"From the district court to the Ninth Circuit, we defended Idaho's right to protect students' privacy in bathrooms and locker rooms," Attorney General Raúl Labrador said in a news release Thursday. "Idaho families can be confident that this law is fully in effect and will remain so."

"In their suit, the plaintiffs and the Sexuality and Gender Alliance argued that the law violated the 14th Amendment's equal protection rights clause because it disallowed trans students from using facilities that matched their gender identity. They also argued that the law violated Title IX, the federal statute prohibiting sex-based discrimination."

Read at Advocate.com