Bathroom bill bad for domestic violence shelters

By now, anyone paying even mild attention to the news has heard about “the bathroom bill” in the Montana Legislature. I hate that name. It’s an awful bill that will have terrible outcomes. So, let’s just call it House Bill 121.

House Bill 121 would mandate that public and certain private facilities designate multi-user restrooms and dormitories for the “exclusive use” of males and females based on definitions of sex assigned at birth. Supporters argue this is to protect women, but as the executive director of the Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence for nearly 20 years, I can assure you that this bill does nothing to safeguard women. In fact, this legislation will inflict significant harm on women and children escaping domestic violence and sexual abuse.

To be clear, we strongly oppose the bill because it is extremely discriminatory, and what makes it even worse is that it specifically carves out domestic violence shelters as one of the few private businesses affected. If it passes, it could shut down shelters across the state and send women and their children back into danger. 

Let me explain. 

This bill jeopardizes federal funding because shelters are already explicitly prohibited from discriminating against individuals. To comply with federal law and HB 121, facilities would need to convert all bathrooms to single-use, which would be outrageously expensive. We cannot use our federal grant funds for this, and even if we could, it would be insufficient. None of the shelter programs in Montana possess the financial capacity to implement these changes, forcing shelters to significantly reduce the number of people they serve or shut down altogether.

But this bill doesn’t stop there. It also allows people to sue domestic violence shelters if they don’t believe the shelter has complied with the law. So, if someone thinks that another person does not appear feminine enough to use a women’s restroom, they can take legal action against the shelter, forcing it to spend money defending against frivolous lawsuits instead of providing counseling, food, and other essential support for abused women and children. 

House Bill 121 is an unhelpful, unnecessary and expensive government regulation that will not protect women. Montana domestic violence shelters are experts in keeping their clients safe. Neither the sponsor nor anyone associated with the bill asked their local programs if it helped us to serve victims.

If they had, we would have stated that we need funding to assist more victims, not to redirect our very limited resources toward expensive renovations or irresponsible lawsuits. There is a significant need in our communities. One of our larger programs had to turn away over 700 people this year, and another had to provide victims with camping equipment when they could not offer safe housing.

The Legislature should reject this bill because it is not good policy or practice. It is impractical and vague, infringing on the privacy of our businesses and the privacy of the individuals we serve.

Domestic violence shelters across the state are saying loud and clear that we don’t want it or need it. We want to go back to serving our communities and ensuring them that they all have a place to be safe.

Kelsen Young is the executive director of the Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, with member organizations across the state that provide support, resources, safety and counseling to domestic and sexual violence survivors.