Utah’s only openly LGBTQ lawmaker choked back tears Tuesday as she pleaded for her state House colleagues not to pass another bill aimed at the transgender community — this time in university dorms.
It’s the fourth year in a row, said Rep. Sahara Hayes, D-Salt Lake City, that the Republican-majority Legislature has pushed legislation aimed at the small population. In 2022, transgender girls were prohibited from participating in high school sports that align with their gender identity. In 2023, Utah banned gender-affirming health care for transgender youth. And last year, transgender Utahns were barred from using public restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity in government-owned buildings.
“I have to tell you, the LGBTQ community is so tired,” she said, her voice cracking as she spoke from the House floor. “We are so tired of being scared every year when this body meets, because we don’t know how we’re going to be targeted. … But it’s starting to feel inevitable that it’s going to happen.”
Hayes’ plea, though, didn’t stop the latest measure from moving forward.
She was joined in voting against HB269 by House Democrats. All Republicans voted in support, pushing the measure through on a 59-13 vote. It goes next to the Senate.
The bill from Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain, would ban transgender students at the state’s public colleges and universities from living in a school-owned dorm building that aligns with their gender identity. Instead, they would have to be assigned to a room based strictly on their sex at birth or to an area specifically designated as gender neutral.
Gricius said that provision for gender neutral spaces “creates a pathway for our transgender students to have a safe space” while supporting the privacy of female students who want to live in dorms designated for women.
“Dorms are a place where people are particularly vulnerable,” she said after the debate Tuesday.
The bill has come partly in response to a conflict this semester at Utah State University, where Marcie Robertson, a 20-year-old transgender student, was assigned to be the resident advisor for a women’s dorm.
When Avery Saltzman, a roommate assigned to the same suite, learned of Robertson’s identity, she said she felt uncomfortable living in the same space and sharing a restroom. Saltzman requested a transfer and received another room in the same building.
But her mother, Cheryl Saltzman, was upset that USU didn’t notify the family ahead of time. And she has spoken out publicly. The situation was then picked up by conservative circles on social media.
Hayes, who is the first openly bisexual member of the Utah House, mentioned how threats have poured in against Robertson since, which Robertson also talked about with The Salt Lake Tribune.
“She was doxxed in this instance,” Hayes said, noting that Robertson’s name, picture and dorm address have been shared thousands of times online.
And USU, the lawmaker added, has had to increase security around Robertson’s dorm and filter her email to try to block some of the “harassment and threats.”
Hayes said framing HB269 as a push for privacy “feels disingenuous to me, given how egregiously hers was being violated.”
“She and other students like her are just as worthy of safety and privacy — not being pushed into separate, exclusionary housing,” she said.
Democratic Reps. Doug Owens and Grant Miller also spoke in opposition. Miller said USU and other colleges in the state already have policies for students to move to a different dorm room if there’s a dispute. And that played out as it should have in this situation.
“I think that the state Legislature is an inappropriate forum to ultimately marshal what is a dispute between roommates,” Miller added.
Owens said he, too, didn’t feel there was a pressing need for the bill, particularly as the courts are already weighing similar measures; creating a new law now would likely be “signing the state up for expensive litigation.” He also said that, “from a perspective of kindness,” HB269 should be tabled.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Rep. Stephanie Gricius introduces HB269 during the House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee at the Capitol in Salt Lake City Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025.
Several GOP lawmakers pushed back, saying it’s the Legislature’s job to create laws — not wait for the courts to decide. Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton, also said that the state shouldn’t wait until “something bad happens” to protect women.
Lee said that as the father of two girls, he wants to make sure his daughters and other female students feel safe and comfortable when living on campus. He is also currently running a bill to ban pride flags in K-12 classrooms.
He was joined by freshman Rep. Doug Fiefia, R-Herriman, who spoke of his three daughters, too, and said the bill is “not about discrimination” but protection.
Hayes countered that it is discrimination, to her, when the bill is about limiting a specific population — a community that has been the subject of legislation for each session she’s been a lawmaker.
“This feels like being pushed aside and scapegoated,” she said, “again and again and again.”
