(The Lion) — Utah House members have passed a bill requiring students at public colleges in the state to reside in dormitory facilities matching their biological sex.
HB 269, sponsored by Republican Rep. Stephanie Gricius, which would require all public institutions of higher education to place on-campus students in dormitories that are specific to their sex “regardless of gender identity,” or provide a living space that is designated “gender neutral.”
The bill comes in response to a recent controversy at Utah State University, in which a biological male was allegedly serving as a “Dorm Mom” in a dormitory that supposedly houses only women. The story went viral when conservative social media influencer Eric Moutsos reported it on his X feed, receiving over 3 million views.
“This week, Cheryl Saltzman, a concerned mother, bravely took to social media to voice her outrage because a man has now moved into her daughter’s all-women’s secure environment (Merrill Hall Dorm) without notice to the women students,” wrote Moutsos.
“She was horrified to meet ‘Marcie,’ whom she said is clearly a ‘biological man’ infiltrating the dorm. ‘Marcie’ now ironically holds the misleading title of Resident Assistant, or ‘Dorm Mom,’ a position that should be about protecting young women and the ‘community standards,’ but is now compromised.”
In response to the controversy, Amanda DeRito, a spokesperson for the university, told The College Fix the school “does not have all-female or all-male residence halls. Merrill Hall is a co-ed [dorm] where students choose their rooms according to the gender they report. Resident assistants do not act in a parental role, and we do not call them dorm moms.”
DeRito added that resident assistants “are students who act as peer advisors, and both women and men serve as RAs and provide peer advising to other students assigned to them, including either men or women. We don’t have ‘female RA’ roles or ‘male RA’ roles.”
DeRito emphasized the university is required to follow both state and federal laws prohibiting discrimination in housing, adding that “Utah law specifically protects transgender individuals from discrimination in both housing and employment.”
Rep. Gricius told the Salt Lake Tribune the bill’s gender-neutral provision “creates a pathway for our transgender students to have a safe space” while also protecting the privacy of female students living in dormitories designated for women.
Among the lawmakers opposed to the measure is Democrat Rep. Sahara Hayes, Utah’s only openly LGBTQ lawmaker, who said during debate: “I have to tell you, the LGBTQ community is 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.”
Another opponent of the bill, Democrat Rep. Grant Miller, insisted the measure is an unnecessary response, claiming state colleges already have policies in place to allow students to move to other dorms in the case of such disputes.
“I think that the state legislature is an inappropriate forum to ultimately marshal what is a dispute between roommates,” he said.
In response, Republican Rep. Trevor Lee argued it is the legislature’s job to create laws that address such issues, and lawmakers shouldn’t wait until “something bad happens” to protect women.
Similarly, Republican House Speaker Mike Schultz took to X to respond to the story, writing: “We will not tolerate this any longer. In the session … we will make it clear: female spaces are for biological females only. No woman should ever feel compelled to relocate to feel safe and comfortable on our college campuses.”
