HB183 (Sex Designation Amendments)

HB183 was a broad attack on trans and nonbinary Utahns. The bill would have prohibited anyone who does not present as their biological sex from working as a teacher or staff member in public schools, or as certain healthcare providers licensed by the Department of Health and Human Services, if their role requires contact with a child for more than five minutes, such as pediatricians. Additionally, HB183 would have essentially banned gender marker changes on birth certificates. The bill also attempted to eliminate protections and guidelines preventing discrimination based on gender identity, including allowing employers and landlords to discriminate against an individual due to their gender identity. The bill also would have required state agencies to use the term “sex” instead of “gender” in all agency rulemaking and made corresponding changes to state code. Lastly, in child custody proceedings, the bill would have required a court to consider one guardian’s disapproval of the child’s gender identity as a factor in favor of awarding custody to that guardian. HB183 was eventually stripped of most of its provisions, leaving only the change from “gender” to “sex” in the Utah Code. Still, even the amended bill failed to advance out of the Senate Government Operations Committee.