In an attempt to crowdsource enforcement of an anti-trans bathroom law that went into effect this week, Utah’s state auditor has rolled out an online complaint form to report trans people in bathrooms.
Released on Wednesday, the so-called hotline complaint form allows people to report alleged violations of House Bill 257, which requires individuals to use restrooms and changing rooms in government buildings that correspond with their sex assigned at birth.
The legislation has caused fear and confusion among teachers, parents and students in public schools. Under HB 257, a person found to have violated the law can be charged with criminal trespassing and could serve jail time, and a government entity can be fined up to $10,000 per day for a violation.
The complaint form has so far proven to be a bust. Several people posted screenshots to the social media platform X showing them trolling the form with memes and other nonsensical submissions. By Friday, the state auditor’s office had received nearly 4,000 complaints, Utah Auditor John Dougall told The Salt Lake Tribune —all of which appear to be fake. “We didn’t see anything that looks credible,” Dougall said. “For example, if they have my name as a complainant, you know, I’m not complaining.”
The form initially had a section where respondents could upload documents to support their complaint — which, given the locations to which the law applied, suggested that people would be photographed in bathrooms and changing rooms (which is illegal).
“Apparently Utah’s solution to people feeling unsafe in restrooms is to encourage folks to take photos of & focus extreme attention on the private parts of others who are taking care of a biological need to eliminate waste?” Utah state Sen. Jennifer Plumb, a Democrat, posted on X.
Dougall responded to Plumb, writing that his office “has no interest in those types of photos” and that he was “disgusted by [Plumb’s] suggestion of such revolting and criminal behavior!”
By Saturday, that section in the complaint form had been removed. Our hotline has historically allowed complainant to upload additional supporting information. My office has no interest in those types of photos which, of course you know, would be illegal. (Nor did we request this task.) But apparently, your solution to people feeling unsafe in… The website also had no basic security measures to block people from viewing comments and images that others had submitted. Dougall’s office changed the permissions after independent news outlet 404 Media reached out for comment. Utah is not the first state to seek the public’s help in enforcing anti-LGBTQ measures. As journalist Erin Reed reported, when Indiana unveiled a similar “snitch line” in February to report schools that were teaching “political ideology,” the portal was spammed with jokes and memes. Last year, Missouri had a similar anti-trans “snitch line” website crash after it was spammed with users who uploaded the script of “The Bee Movie.”
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
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