Gender neutral bathrooms at the Hyatt Regency hotel (left) and Salt Palace Convention Center (right) in Salt Lake City. Photos by Randy Hobson (left) & Angela Stevens (right).
On Jan. 30, Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed House Bill 257 into law. HB 257, dubbed “Sex-based Designations for Privacy, Anti-Bullying, and Women’s Opportunities,” bars transgender, non-binary and gender nonconforming people from accessing privacy spaces and other facilities in public schools and government owned or controlled spaces, according to ACLU Utah.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) believes that God has created all humanity in a diverse image of God’s vast self, and in 2018 the 223rd General Assembly affirmed its commitment to the full welcome, acceptance, and inclusion of transgender people, people who identify as gender non-binary, and people of all gender identities within the full life of the church and the world. The assembly affirms the full dignity and the full humanity of transgender people. Learn more about General Assembly policy on gender diversity here.
Kate Trigger Duffert, the director of General Assembly Planning in the Office of the General Assembly, told Presbyterian News Service this week that once the bill had been signed into law, General Assembly planners participated in a Zoom call with the Salt Palace Convention Center, which is the home of the 226th General Assembly, and Visit Salt Lake. At the time, it was unclear to whom the new law applied, and when.
The Presbytery of Utah had already submitted letters condemning the bill, and GA planners began hearing from people in the community, the PC(USA)’s LGBTQIA+ Gender Advocacy Committee, and people across the country who had heard about the new law, Trigger Duffert said. “It was wonderful to be able to say we were already having those conversations” about providing welcome at the upcoming assembly, she said.
General Assembly mandates providing all-gender bathrooms. The convention center’s legal advisors determined in early 2024 that the law does not apply to the convention center and applies only to changing rooms, not bathrooms.
“Salt Lake City in general has a very strong LGBTQIA+ community,” Trigger Duffert noted, with three drag bars within walking distance of the convention center. “Salt Lake City is very much a haven in that way.”
Working with the Presbytery of Utah, planners confirmed with the Hyatt Regency, the hotel that’s adjacent to the Salt Palace Convention Center, has single-stall all-gender bathrooms available to GA attendees and observers. There’s also one along a service corridor adjacent to Plenary Hall, and the corridor has been upgraded with carpet to make it more comfortable.
In addition, planners worked with convention center officials to arrange for retrofitting a set of restrooms and have them labeled all-gender, Trigger Duffert said. Those are scheduled to be ready ahead of the Friday arrival of commissioners and advisory delegates. The partners “have gone above and beyond” to help provide all-gender bathrooms and make everyone feel welcome, she said.
Gender-neutral restrooms made their first appearance at the 223rd General Assembly held in St. Louis in 2018. For the all-online GA in 2020 and the hybrid assembly in 2022 held in Louisville, the conference center at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville, Kentucky, was constructed to include all-gender restrooms.
Trigger Duffert recently received an email from a Presbyterian wondering about whether to boycott the currently assembly because of HB 257. Her response was, “We need to be here because of the bill. By coming here and joining the presbytery with their witness, we are making a bigger difference. We can impact the community and also help Presbyterians here know they are connected.”
Trigger Duffert said she’s unaware how many people attending the current assembly might be impacted by the restrictions imposed by HB 257. She said she doesn’t anticipate similar action needed if the current assembly accepts the Presbytery of Milwaukee’s offer to host the 227th General Assembly in 2026.
Milwaukee “is a very different place than the rest of the state. The people in Milwaukee were proud to remind us that Milwaukee has had two socialist mayors,” Trigger Duffert said.
Wisconsin’s largest city already has sufficient single-stall all-gender restroom access, she noted.
*The recently enacted anti-Trans bathroom law does not apply to the convention center, local restaurants and hotels, or the Salt Lake City airport. You may use the restroom that matches your gender identity. Single stall restrooms are also available near the Plenary Hall and Hyatt Regency lobby. For further information regarding this law, go to the ACLU Utah FAQ page: https://www.acluutah.org/en/know-your-rights/faqs-hb-257