Salt Lake City, Utah - The Utah state legislature has sent a bill to Governor Spencer Cox's desk to bar college students from living in dorms that correspond with their gender identity.
Utah legislators have approved a bill that would prohibit transgender college students from living in dorms that correspond with their gender identity. © IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire
If signed into law, would require public colleges and universities to give housing assignments in student dorms according to sex listed at birth.
The restrictions would also apply to bathrooms and locker rooms on campus.
Utah in 2022 for trans girls, amid a pending legal challenge.
The following year, Utah banned gender-affirming medical care for trans youth.
In 2024, the state issued a bathroom ban applying to restroom and locker room facilities in public schools and government-owned buildings.
The latest anti-trans attack is believed to be the first specifically aimed at trans youth's access to college student housing.
"This bill perpetuates discrimination, needlessly imposes barriers to access higher education, and will result in harm to transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming Utahns," ACLU of Utah Executive Director Brittney Nystrom in a urging him to veto the legislation.
"Beyond the harm this bill would impose on students, HB269 is unnecessary – Utah’s colleges and universities have long managed student housing effectively without government interference in roommate assignments," Nystrom added.
