Two transgender college students are suing to block a new Idaho law requiring students to use bathrooms and other gender-specific facilities that correspond to their biological sex. 

The lawsuit, filed in federal court, states, “HB 264, if it remains in effect at the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year, will prohibit [Boise State University] and [University of Idaho] from allowing plaintiffs to continue using restrooms that align with their gender identities and how they are perceived on campus.” 

The lawsuit alleges that the law violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and asks the court to block the measure before classes start on August 25. The plaintiffs also say that the universities only have a limited number of restrooms that are non-sex-specific and that the law could expose them to harassment. 

One student who goes to Boise State University identifies as male but is biologically female, and is not “out as transgender to most people on campus.”

The plaintiff says, “It would be impossible for me to use the women’s restrooms, as I appear and sound male. I believe it would put me at risk for harassment and violence to enter a restroom designated for females.”

Another plaintiff, who identifies as female but is biologically male, at the University of Idaho “frequently uses the women’s restrooms at U of I without incident.” The lawsuit states that the plaintiff “does so with the permission of administrators.”

Idaho’s legislature passed the legislation in the spring, days after the liberal U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected a challenge to a similar law in the state that requires students in public schools in grades K-12 to use bathrooms that match their biological sex. 

In 2023, a transgender student filed a suit against the K-12 law, and the court granted a preliminary injunction for the 2023-24 school year. However, in July 2024, the student withdrew from the case, and the Sexuality and Gender Alliance Association was left to argue against the law.

The court found that the law protected “the privacy and safety of all students” in areas where they might be undressed. 

A state representative who sponsored HB 264, Barbara Ehart, said in a post on Facebook that the law is “exactly like” the one that was challenged at the Ninth Circuit, but “just for higher ed.”