Idaho shouldn’t order my business how to organize bathrooms | Opinion

I am a proud person — proud to be an Idahoan, an entrepreneur, a woman and queer. Proud that my business is thriving in a beautiful brick-and-mortar in the heart of Hyde Park. Proud to welcome everyone through my doors.

But I am not proud of Idaho’s Legislature or its relentless attacks on transgender people. It’s embarrassing, especially for a state that claims to value small government.

I’ve long appreciated that Idaho respected my autonomy to run my business. Now those same leaders, backed by people with “Don’t Tread on Me” license plates and 1776 T-shirts, have decided transgender people are so undeserving of a normal life that I must reshape my business and treat them like criminals. House Bill 752 is dangerously close to becoming law, and I haven’t seen any resistance from people who worship the free market. No resistance from the people who proclaim that the government should never be able to tell them how to live their lives.

HB 752 is one of the most restrictive and punitive bills aimed at trans people in the country. If enacted, it would make it a crime for trans people to use any public bathroom for its intended use — to relieve oneself. First offense would be a misdemeanor, and second offense would be a felony. For using the bathroom.

This should concern everyone — absolutely everyone. If we allow this step in the door to criminalize people for existing, forcing business owners to conform and turning Idahoans against each other based on what they look like, the next bill will get closer to doing it to everyone.

Understand that anti-trans bathroom restrictions are very different from other business regulations, such as ADA (American Disabilities Act) compliance. The ADA ensures inclusion and accessibility for all people in our businesses, such as people in wheelchairs and blind people. Requiring permits for electrical work and fire safety is also necessary and maintains safety for everyone. I’m not against regulations and making places safe and inclusive, nor am I against government-mandated policies that do the same.

But nobody is made safer by making transgender people criminals for not hurting anyone. All research from credible sources such as the National Institute of Health, the UCLA Williams Institute School of Law, the National Policing Institute, and many, many more say there is zero empirical evidence that trans people are a threat to public safety in public bathrooms. In fact, all evidence points to trans people being victims of violence at much higher rates.

Given the actual evidence, how exactly is making them criminals going to help anyone?

And business owners would be forced to do what, exactly? Remodel their bathroom structure? Will the government be paying for these remodels? Hire someone to monitor the bathrooms? Pay for more insurance in case a random person decides to create hostility for bathroom occupants?

For small businesses, mandates like this are not abstract; they are expensive, disruptive and unnecessary.

I am not transgender, but I love people who are. They are my friends, neighbors and community. And I worry about them constantly. I worry especially for young people. Imagine growing up in Idaho while your government repeatedly tells you your existence is a problem to be legislated away.

Ironically, I feel safer in places where restrooms aren’t rigidly policed by gender, where people are simply allowed to exist. Why is that what Idaho insists on attacking?

But perhaps what concerns me most is where this leads. History shows that when rights are stripped from one group, it rarely stops there. We’ve been watching that pattern unfold for years. I keep thinking of Martin Niemöller’s “First They Came.”

That’s why silence is dangerous.

As a business owner, I’m often told to keep politics out of my business. But what happens when politics forces its way into my business?

I’m calling on other Idaho business owners to speak up for our LGBTQ+ neighbors, employees and customers. I know the courage it takes. I’m inspired by those already doing it.

But basic respect for others shouldn’t require courage.

We should be building a place where everyone feels welcome to live, work, and thrive. Instead, we’re moving in the opposite direction.

Idaho can do better. And we can make sure it does.

Jess Wagner is a business owner of an inclusive artist collective in Boise. Previously, she was a full-time artist and professional gardener. She lives in Boise with her fiancé, two cats and deaf dog.