Student Is First Arrested Under State Transgender Bathroom Law

A transgender college student said “I am here to break the law” before entering a women’s restroom at the Florida State Capitol and being led out in handcuffs by police. Civil rights attorneys say the arrest of Marcy Rheintgen is the first they know of for violating transgender bathroom restrictions passed by many state legislatures. Capitol police had been alerted and were waiting for Rheintgen, 20, when she entered the building March 19. They told her she would receive a trespass warning once she entered the women’s restroom to wash her hands and pray the rosary, but she was later placed under arrest when she refused to leave, reports the Associated Press. Rheintgen faces a misdemeanor trespassing charge punishable by up to 60 days in jail.

“I wanted people to see the absurdity of this law in practice,” Rheintgen said. “If I’m a criminal, it’s going to be so hard for me to live a normal life, all because I washed my hands. Like, that’s so insane.” At least 14 states have adopted laws barring transgender women from entering women’s bathrooms at public schools and, in some cases, other government buildings. Only two — Florida and Utah — criminalize the act. A judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked Montana’s new bathroom law. Rheintgen’s arrest in Florida is the first that American Civil Liberties Union attorneys are aware of in any state with a criminal ban. Her arrest comes as many Republican-led states that have enacted restroom restrictions must decide how to enforce them. Laws in Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky and North Dakota do not spell out any enforcement mechanism, and the state laws that do largely rely on private individuals to report violations.