HELENA – The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Cascade County challenging the constitutionality of a proposed ballot initiative that prevents transgender people from public bathrooms that don’t correspond with the gender on their birth certificates.

The suit, filed in 8th Judicial District Court, is on behalf of seven transgender Montanans, two parents on behalf of their transgender daughter and the cities of Missoula and Bozeman, ACLU officials said. Micah Hartung, a retired pastor from Belt, is among the plaintiffs.

Hartung could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

The lawsuit asks the court to declare the initiative unconstitutional and prevent the Secretary of State from placing it on the November 2018 ballot.

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The Montana Family Foundation’s Locker Room Privacy Initiative ballot initiative, which is gathering signatures, seeks to keep showers and locker rooms private from the opposite sex and require people to use the bathrooms for the gender on their birth certificate. Supporters said the act encourages “compassionate accommodations,” such as single-stall changing facilities, for people who may not feel comfortable using the locker room for their sex.

Those opposed to the initiative say the initiative will "harass, humiliate, and harm transgender Montanans."

Jeff Laszloffy, president/CEO of the Montana Family Foundation, said the ACLU's lawsuit was premature as it has not qualified yet for the ballot. “The ACLU knows it will pass by an overwhelming margin if the people of Montana are allowed to vote, so they’re acting in desperation to sue even before it’s on the ballot,” he said via email.

The signatures must be returned in June. It needs about 25,000 Montanans to sign the petition to get on the ballot and needs a simple majority vote to pass.

During the 2017 legislative session, a similar proposal from Rep. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, failed to get out of House Judiciary committee.

The ACLU says I-183 would bar trans-Montanans from full and equal participation in public life and nullify many of their constitutional rights.

“I-183 violates numerous constitutional rights, depriving transgender Montanans of equal protection under the law and burdening their fundamental rights to privacy, dignity, and due process,” ACLU Montana Executive Director Caitlin Borgmann said in a news release.

Laszloff said high school girls shouldn’t be forced to shower in front of a boy, even if he identifies as a girl.

"It's just common sense," he said. "It’s tragic that the ACLU wants to disenfranchise thousands of Montana voters.”

ACLU Montana claims I-183 would endanger at least $250 million of annual Title IX federal funding in grants to the Montana University System that go toward financial aid, research and programs.

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They also note that Indianapolis lost more than $60 million in less than a year, and North Carolina took a projected $3.76 billion hit to its economy when state laws similar to the one I-183 would create were implemented.

ACLU Montana Legal Director Alex Rate described I-183 as "vague and confusing," and said those required to enforce I-183 would not know how to comply with it.

Laszloffy called those claims about economic impact "exaggerated."

“A study about the economy of North Carolina, and what happened when they instituted locker room privacy, claims it cost that state $3.7 billion. But that amount is over 12 years while North Carolina’s economy is nearly $500 billion in one single year. Simple math shows that protecting privacy cost North Carolina less than one tenth of 1 percent per year.”

He also said claims that it would put university funding at risk are also false.



"The Obama administration might have penalized schools that protect locker room privacy. But the Trump administration has said unequivocally that they will not,” he said.