State Attorney General Ferguson wades into Idaho lawsuit

OLYMPIA – Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson is injecting himself into Idaho politics.

Ferguson has joined 21 other Democrat attorneys general in a court brief to try to block the Idaho law requiring students to use restrooms and locker rooms corresponding to their actual birth gender.

“In Washington, where the rights of transgender students are protected, public schools report no instances of transgender students harassing others in bathrooms or locker rooms,” Ferguson said in a press release announce he was joining other Democrats in challenging the Idaho law. “In contrast, the evidence is overwhelming that prohibiting students from using facilities that correspond to their gender identity causes them very real physical, emotional and mental harm.”

Under Idaho Senate Bill 100, “transgender” and other students are required to use restrooms and locker rooms associated with their actual gender, not their so-called “gender identity.”

The law allows students to sue schools if a student with gender dysphoria accesses the restroom or locker room not associated with their actual gender.

The law is being challenged in federal court in Boise, Idaho, with U.S. District Court Judge David Nye presiding.

On Oct. 26, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals prevented the law from going into effect.