Montana House passes bill banning men from women’s restrooms on campus
The bill is meant to ‘preserve women's restrooms, changing rooms, and sleeping quarters for women.’
The bill sponsor said: ‘Girls should not feel uncomfortable or afraid to use a restroom or locker room at school.’
The Montana House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would stop men who “identify” as women from using women’s restrooms in the state’s public institutions of higher education.
The legislation, House Bill 121, passed the House by a vote of 58-42 on Wednesday. It now awaits approval from the state Senate.
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The bill text states its purpose is to “preserve women’s restrooms, changing rooms, and sleeping quarters for women in facilities where women have traditionally been afforded privacy and safety from acts of abuse, harassment, sexual assault, and violence committed by men.”
Specifically, the legislation would make it so that public buildings, including “university building[s]” on public campuses, would be required to “designate each multi-occupancy restroom, changing room, or sleeping quarters for the exclusive use of females or males” and to forbid males and females from using such facilities that belong to the opposite sex.
Bill sponsor Republican State Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe said: “Girls should not feel uncomfortable or afraid to use a restroom or locker room at school.”
She also clarified: “This bill is not about exclusion or hate. It’s about common-sense boundaries that have served our society for generations. Women should not have to sacrifice their privacy or their safety because of political agendas or cultural trends.”
State Rep. Seekings-Crowe also told Campus Reform that she has been hearing “an increasing number of stories from women who have faced uncomfortable and even threatening situations in what should be private and safe spaces,” and added: “Those stories strengthened my resolve to act. House Bill 121 is about standing up for women and girls—protecting their right to privacy and dignity in vulnerable spaces like restrooms, prisons, locker rooms, and changing areas. This legislation ensures that these spaces remain safe and secure for everyone who relies on them.”
She also added that she is “very optimistic about House Bill 121 passing into law,” adding that “[t]he bill has already received strong support in the House, with unanimous backing from Republicans in our caucus. Governor Gianforte has signaled his support for this measure, and I believe the Senate will stand with us as well. Protecting the privacy and safety of women and girls is a commonsense priority, and I’m confident this will soon become law.”
Montana’s House Bill 121 mirrors efforts in other states to stop efforts to impose gender ideology on restroom policy.
The Ohio Senate, for example, advanced a bill in November, 2024 forbidding men and women on public college campuses from using the restrooms of the opposite sex because they claim they have a different “gender identity.”
Campus Reform has reached out to State Rep. Seekins-Crowe for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.