House approves bill setting sex‑designated and gender‑neutral options for on‑campus housing after heated debate

The Utah House of Representatives on Tuesday approved First Substitute House Bill 269, a measure that requires on‑campus housing assignments to correspond to students’ biological sex while creating a gender‑neutral housing option, passing the chamber 59 to 13.

Supporters say the bill clarifies privacy expectations for campus housing and directs the Board of Higher Education to issue implementation guidance. Opponents warned the measure risks legal challenges and could further marginalize transgender students.

Representative Grisius, the bill sponsor, told colleagues the legislation “provides greater privacy for students living in on campus housing.” He said the bill establishes three pathways for housing assignments — biological male, biological female or a gender‑neutral option — and directs the Board of Higher Education to provide guidance to institutions on compliance. Grisius also said the bill repeals a provision from last year’s HB 257 that allowed medical documentation instead of a birth certificate for accessing certain privacy‑designated spaces.

Representative Doug Owens opposed the measure and raised constitutional concerns. “It has potential constitutional problems,” Owens said, arguing the bill could prompt litigation under equal protection principles and that campus disputes are often resolved administratively without new statute.

Representative Grant Amjad Miller said the episode that prompted the bill did not involve a crime or injury. “She caused no injury. She caused no crime. She caused no harm by any quantifiable measure. What concerns me is that she simply existed as a trans woman in a woman's dorm,” Miller said, urging colleagues to consider the effects on the transgender community.

Other supporters, including Representative Nicholeen P. Peck and Representative Paul A. Cutler, said the bill balances privacy and access by preserving a gender‑neutral option and by creating clearer rules for institutions. Representative Sahara Hayes, speaking in opposition, described harassment and threats she said followed a widely shared social media post about the student at the center of the dispute and said the bill continued a pattern of measures targeting transgender students.

House debate ended after the previous question was called. First Substitute HB 269 passed the House by a count of 59 yes votes and 13 no votes and will be transmitted to the Senate for consideration.

The bill text directs the Board of Higher Education to issue guidance but leaves implementation detail to system and institutional policies; sponsors said that choice was intentional because not all institutions operate on‑campus housing in the same way.

Votes: First Substitute HB 269 — passed, 59 yes, 13 no. The House will send the measure to the Senate for its consideration.