The 2024 Utah Legislative Session began Jan. 16 and has already seen several controversial bills circulating in the House and Senate — and so far, three of them have made early headlines.
HB 257
The first controversial bill is House Bill 257. Nicknamed the “transgender bathroom bill,” HB 257 is officially titled “Sex-Based Designations for Privacy, Anti-Bullying and Women’s Opportunities.”
HB 257 aims to restrict transgender individuals’ use of public bathrooms in taxpayer-funded buildings. It asserts a sex-based definition of male and female, defining individuals by their sexual characteristics rather than their gender identity.
The bill would criminalize the diverging use of gendered bathrooms by people who do not identify with their sex assigned at birth. The only exceptions provided are if an individual completed a transition-related surgery or legally changed their sex on their birth certificate.
Rep. Kera Birkeland, R-Morgan, the bill’s main sponsor, also sponsored the signed House Bill 11 from the 2022 General Session, which bars transgender athletes from participation in organized sports in high school.
HB 257 has passed the Utah House in a 52-17 vote. Three Republican House members joined all the Democrats in voting against it. The bill now makes its way to the Senate, where the Senate Business and Labor Committee will hear it.
HB 261
The second bill to make headlines is House Bill 261. HB 261 aims to eliminate diversity practices in enrollment and hiring at publicly funded colleges and universities, public K–12 schools, and government entities.
Diversity, equity and inclusion practices, often called DEI, drive the existence of multicultural offices at public universities like the Black Student Union at the University of Utah. Under HB 261, offices that intentionally work with specific populations based on race or gender would have to either close or shift to more generalized offices.
HB 261 would also change hiring practices for government entities, getting rid of diversity statements. These statements outline how candidates will contribute to an institution’s DEI efforts.
The Utah House Education Committee approved HB 261 on Wednesday in a 12-2 vote along party lines. The main House vote, 58-14, then passed the bill to the Senate Education Committee.
HB 269
The third bill is House Bill 269. HB 269 would require Utah public schools to display the Ten Commandments in a prominent location on campus.
HB 269 lists a minimum 16 by 20-inch size requirement for the display of the Ten Commandments. Currently being heard by the House Rules Committee, experts say HB 269 is unlikely to pass and become law. If passed, the law would go into effect on July 1, 2024.
