Latest news with #SafetyinPrivateSpacesAct
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
20-Year-Old Trans Woman Arrested After Using Florida State Capitol Bathroom As Protest
A 20-year-old trans woman spent 24 hours in jail after entering a woman's restroom in the Florida State Capitol as an act of protest against an anti-trans bathroom law. On March 19, Marcy Rheintgen, who is from Illinois, showed up at the state house in Tallahassee and told the officers of her goal: 'I am here to break the law,' according to The New York Times. Initially, officers told her she'd receive a trespass warning if she entered, The Times reported. She then spent 30 to 60 seconds inside a bathroom on the second floor of the House office before being told to leave. 'I was originally intending to pray the rosary, but I didn't have enough time,' she told the Times in an interview. 'I was just washing my hands, and they told me to leave.' Rheintgen was then arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor trespassing and spent 24 hours in jail, The Associated Press reported. She now faces 60 days in jail and a $500 fine if convicted, and her arraignment is scheduled for May. 'The climate around trans issues has gotten, it's reached a fever peak. And people are dehumanizing us. And there was like a point where I was like, If I don't go to jail now, I'm going to go to jail later,' she said in a 23-minute video posted on X on Monday. 'Things are getting scary.' The 'Safety in Private Spaces Act,' passed in 2023, makes it criminal trespass for individuals to go into a restroom or changing facility that doesn't align with the sex they were assigned at birth. The law applies to government buildings, correctional facilities and schools. According to the Movement Advancement Project, at least 19 states have implemented some sort of anti-trans bathroom law since 2021. Experts at the American Civil Liberties Union have said that Rheintgen's case is the first known time that a person has been arrested under an anti-trans bathroom law. However, Florida law enforcement officials told the New York Times that Rheintgen was arrested for 'trespass on property after warning,' not the state's bathroom law. HuffPost reached out to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for comment, but they did not immediately respond. 'I just want dignity,' Rheintgen said in her video on Monday. She also said that being in jail was 'really isolating and lonely,' prompting her to cry virtually the entire time. 'I felt like an animal.' Ahead of her protest and arrest, Rheintgen contacted Florida representatives, telling them of her plans. She even included a picture of herself. 'I know that you know in your heart that this law is wrong and unjust,' Rheintgen said in a letter, according to the Miami Herald. 'I know that you know in your heart that transgender people are human too, and you can't arrest us away.' Equality Florida, a civil rights organization, released a statement condemning Rheintgen's arrest on April 1. 'The arrest of Marcy Rheintgen is not about safety. It's about cruelty, humiliation, and the deliberate erosion of human dignity. Transgender people have been using restrooms aligned with their gender for generations without incident. What's changed is not their presence — it's a wave of laws designed to intimidate them out of public life,' Equality Florida's Executive Director Nadine Smith said. 'These laws are largely unenforceable. And for good reason: policing people's bodies and identities in bathrooms is both absurd and dangerous,' Smith said. 'If you can't safely or legally use a restroom, your time in any public space is limited. That's the point. These laws don't protect anyone; they push transgender people out of everyday life, shrinking their freedom and making them vulnerable to harassment and arrest.' Sen. Tommy Tuberville Says 'Woke Globalists' Are 'Pushing Kids' To Become Transgender Athletes In Women's Sports Transgender Bathroom Restrictions Take Effect As Montana Governor Signs Law Three Transgender Women Sue Trump Administration Over 'Life Or Death' Prison Transfer Plan
Boston Globe
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Transgender woman arrested after using bathroom at Florida state Capitol
Advertisement Rheintgen said that she sent 160 letters to state representatives, the attorney general and governor to tell them when she would use the bathroom and asked that she not be arrested. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up She arrived at the bathroom on the second floor of the House office building of the Capitol in Tallahassee on March 19. Two police officers spoke to Rheintgen outside the bathroom and told her that she would be given a trespass warning if she entered, according to an arrest report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The police had seen a copy of Rheintgen's letter, said the report, which used male pronouns to refer to her. According to the report, Rheintgen told the officers, 'I am here to break the law,' and entered the bathroom. She said in an interview with The New York Times that she spent probably 30 seconds to a minute inside. Advertisement 'I was originally intending to pray the rosary, but I didn't have enough time,' she said. 'I was just washing my hands, and they told me to leave.' An officer followed inside and said that Rheintgen would be subject to arrest if she did not leave, and Rheintgen said, 'OK,' according to the report. She said she spent about 24 hours in jail. If convicted, she faces up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. Her arraignment is scheduled for May, according to court records. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said in an email Monday that Rheintgen was arrested for 'trespass on property after warning,' not specifically for violating the state's bathroom law, the 'Safety in Private Spaces Act.' The law, which went into effect July 1, 2023, applies to bathrooms and changing facilities in government buildings, including schools, prisons and libraries. Representatives for Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed the bathroom law, and the state attorney general, James Uthmeier, did not respond to requests for comment Monday. Since 2022, five states have passed a transgender bathroom law for all government buildings, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. In two of those states, Florida and Utah, violations can result in criminal penalties. In the three other states, Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming, the laws have civil penalties. A district court judge in Montana blocked the state's law April 2 after a legal challenge by the ACLU. Gillian Branstetter, a communications strategist with the ACLU, said that, to the best of the organization's knowledge, Rheintgen's arrest was the first on record under those five state laws. Advertisement There are 14 other states that ban transgender people from choosing their own bathroom, but those apply only to some -- not all -- government buildings and schools. Nadine Smith, the executive director of Equality Florida, a LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, said in a statement that Rheintgen's arrest was a 'deliberate erosion of human dignity.' 'Transgender people have been using restrooms aligned with their gender for generations without incident,' Smith said. 'What's changed is not their presence -- it's a wave of laws designed to intimidate them out of public life.' Rheintgen is from Illinois but she said she visits Florida every year to see family and was on such a trip when she engaged in her protest. She said that she did not see herself as an activist before, but she felt like she had to be one now. In her letter to Florida representatives, she included a photo of herself because, without it, she did not think officials would be able to tell that she was the person breaking the law. 'I know that you know in your heart that transgender people are human too, and that you can't arrest us away,' Rheintgen wrote. This article originally appeared in
New York Times
07-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Transgender Woman Arrested After Using Bathroom at Florida State Capitol
A transgender woman was arrested at the Florida State Capitol last month after she used a bathroom there to protest a state law that blocks transgender people from using a rest room that aligns with their gender identity. The transgender woman, Marcy Rheintgen, 20, said on Sunday that she had intentionally broken the law. Civil rights experts said that this was the first known case of someone being arrested for challenging a law that bans transgender people from using bathrooms in government buildings that do not align with their gender at birth. Ms. Rheintgen said she had been feeling emotional about what she described as dehumanizing language used by elected officials to talk about transgender people when the idea came to her: 'What if I just broke the law because the law is so stupid?' Ms. Rheintgen said that she sent 160 letters to state representatives, the attorney general and governor to tell them when she would use the bathroom and asked that she not be arrested. She arrived at the bathroom on the second floor of the House office building of the Capitol in Tallahassee on March 19. Two police officers spoke to Ms. Rheintgen outside the bathroom and told her that she would be given a trespass warning if she entered, according to an arrest report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The police had seen a copy of Ms. Rheintgen's letter, said the report, which used male pronouns to refer to her. According to the report, Ms. Rheintgen told the officers, 'I am here to break the law,' and entered the bathroom. She said in an interview with The New York Times that she spent probably 30 seconds to a minute inside. 'I was originally intending to pray the rosary, but I didn't have enough time,' she said. 'I was just washing my hands, and they told me to leave.' An officer followed inside and said that Ms. Rheintgen would be subject to arrest if she did not leave, and Ms. Rheintgen said, 'OK,' according to the report. She said she spent about 24 hours in jail. If convicted, she faces up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. Her arraignment is scheduled for May, according to court records. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said in an email on Monday that Ms. Rheintgen was arrested for 'trespass on property after warning,' not specifically for violating the state's bathroom law, the 'Safety in Private Spaces Act.' The law, which went into effect on July 1, 2023, applies to bathrooms and changing facilities in government buildings, including schools, prisons and libraries. Representatives for Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed the bathroom law, and the state attorney general, James Uthmeier, did not respond to requests for comment on Monday. Since 2022, five states have passed a transgender bathroom law for all government buildings, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. In two of those states, Florida and Utah, violations can result in criminal penalties. In the three other states, Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming, the laws have civil penalties. A district court judge in Montana blocked the state's law on April 2 after a legal challenge by the A.C.L.U. Gillian Branstetter, a communications strategist with the A.C.L.U., said that, to the best of the organization's knowledge, Ms. Rheintgen's arrest was the first on record under those five state laws. There are 14 other states that ban transgender people from choosing their own bathroom, but those apply only to some — not all — government buildings and schools. Nadine Smith, the executive director of Equality Florida, a L.G.B.T.Q. civil rights organization, said in a statement that Ms. Rheintgen's arrest was a 'deliberate erosion of human dignity.' 'Transgender people have been using restrooms aligned with their gender for generations without incident,' Ms. Smith said. 'What's changed is not their presence — it's a wave of laws designed to intimidate them out of public life.' Ms. Rheintgen is from Illinois but she said she visits Florida every year to see family and was on such a trip when she engaged in her protest. She said that she did not see herself as an activist before, but she felt like she had to be one now. In her letter to Florida representatives, she included a photo of herself because, without it, she did not think officials would be able to tell that she was the person breaking the law. 'I know that you know in your heart that transgender people are human too, and that you can't arrest us away,' Ms. Rheintgen wrote.
