A councilwoman in Salt Lake County, Utah, has introduced an ordinance that would keep transgender “women” from using women’s locker rooms in county pools and gyms.
The ordinance change submitted to the council by Dea Theodore (R, District 6) came after staffers at a Salt Lake County Recreation Center locker room were confronted by angry women who reported seeing a biological man undressing in the women’s facilities, KUTV reported.
Theodore, a biologist, and educator who was first elected to the council in 2020, introduced a rule that would allow employees to ask a male to leave a space set aside for women and put the onus on the intruder to prove they were born female by enabling staffers to demand an ID or a birth certificate to verify their sex before allowing entry.
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The proposed rule would allow the county to set “reasonable rules and policies that designate sex-specific facilities, including restrooms, shower facilities, and dressing facilities.”
It also says that “sex” is defined as “a person’s biological sex at birth as being male or female.”
The proposal would allow a facility to “establish enforcement procedures for persons who willfully enter a multiple occupancy changing facility designed for the opposite sex and who refuse to depart when asked by an employee.”
“Such procedures may include the verification of a person’s sex as indicated on their birth certificate, Utah Driver’s license or Utah identification card, or passport,” the proposal adds.
The proposal does not delineate any penalties, but it also does not exclude any being added to a final draft.
One provision allows parents of children five and young to accompany a parent into either the male or female space.
Fellow council members Sheldon Stewart and David Alvord have also signed onto the proposal.
Theodore told the media that many recreational facilities — especially new ones — are being designed to add more single-person use bathrooms where transgenders may have their privacy.
The councilwoman added that her goal is “to provide safe spaces for children, women, and everybody.”
The ordinance reportedly stemmed from a complaint by Utahan Candace Duncan, who posted a video to X saying how shocked she was to see a nude male body in the Northwest rec center.
Should adult men be allowed to use the women's locker rooms. This is happening in #SaltLakeCounty. Have #utah parents been warned before their daughters use the women’s locker rooms? #utpol @SLCoMayor @SLCountyGOP @UtahGOP @SLCountyDems @UtahDemocrats @SLCOParksandRec pic.twitter.com/1magi95tRW
— Utah Gay-Straight Coalition (@UtahGSC) July 18, 2023
“I came out of the shower nude, just wrapped in a towel, and there was a very large man in the locker room,” Duncan said in the video.
The rec center released a statement, “We are aware of the concerns raised by one of our patrons and responded to them in December of 2022. We will continue to work collaboratively with the public and stakeholders to maintain the safety, legal protections, and integrity of all who use our recreational facilities.”
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