Bill Description: Senate Bill 1004 would add the words "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to the Idaho Human Rights Act. 

Rating: -7

NOTE: Senate Bill 1004 is similar to Senate Bill 1237 from 2024, Senate Bill 1011 from 2023, and many other iterations over the years. 

Does it create, expand, or enlarge any agency, board, program, function, or activity of government? Conversely, does it eliminate or curtail the size or scope of government?

Senate Bill 1004 would amend Sections 67-5901, 67-5902, and 67-5909, Idaho Code, to define and add the words "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to the state's anti-discrimination statutes. 

State law has long asserted that government must protect individuals from "discrimination" by private parties while on their own property. Senate Bill 1004 would expand this concept by increasing the number of people who are given special privileges under the law. 

(-1)

Does it give government any new, additional, or expanded power to prohibit, restrict, or regulate activities in the free market? Conversely, does it eliminate or reduce government intervention in the market?

In a free market, the terms of employment and rental contracts would not be determined by government. Under Idaho's human rights act and the expansions proposed by Senate Bill 1004, hiring decisions and contract terms would further be restricted by government prohibitions. 

(-1)

Does it increase barriers to entry into the market? Examples include occupational licensure, the minimum wage, and restrictions on home businesses. Conversely, does it remove barriers to entry into the market?

By effectively forbidding employers, landlords, and others from choosing not to do business with people who fall into certain groups ("protected classes"), Senate Bill 1004 could create incentives for employers and landlords not to hire or rent to members of these protected classes. That’s because any adverse action they take against them in the future could result in a claim of illegal discrimination. Ironically, then, the people whom the statute purports to protect would be most likely to find themselves denied entry into the market.

(-1)

Does it violate the principle of equal protection under the law? Examples include laws which discriminate or differentiate based on age, gender, or religion or which apply laws, regulations, rules, or penalties differently based on such characteristics. Conversely, does it restore or protect the principle of equal protection under the law?

Senate Bill 1004 is a perfect example of a bill that violates the principle of equal protection under the law. Giving some people special government-granted protections that are not extended equally to all is itself a form of discrimination codified into law.

(-1)

Does it directly or indirectly create or increase penalties for victimless crimes or non-restorative penalties for nonviolent crimes? Conversely, does it eliminate or decrease penalties for victimless crimes or non-restorative penalties for non-violent crimes?

Senate Bill 1004 declares that "it shall be a prohibited act to discriminate against a person because of, or on a basis of ... sexual orientation [or] gender identity." By prohibiting the act of choosing not to do business with someone ("discrimination"), the bill would further criminalize inaction, such as not hiring a prospective employee, not servicing a potential client, etc. No person has an inherent right to force another person to enter into a contract, but this law would further criminalize the victimless act of simply saying no.

(-1)

Does it violate the spirit or the letter of either the U.S. Constitution or the Idaho Constitution? Examples include restrictions on speech, public assembly, the press, privacy, private property, or firearms. Conversely, does it restore or uphold the protections guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution or the Idaho Constitution?

Senate Bill 1004 would narrow freedom of association and reduce property rights.

(-1)

Does it promote the breakdown of the traditional family or the deconstruction of societal norms? Examples include promoting or incentivizing degeneracy, violating parental rights, and compromising the innocence of children. Conversely, does it protect or uphold the structure, tenets, and traditional values of Western society?

Senate Bill 1004 would define "gender identity" as "a person's actual or perceived gender identity, appearance, mannerisms, or other characteristics, with or without regard to the person's sex at birth." It would define "sexual orientation" as "a person's actual or perceived orientation as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or asexual."

By adding these definitions to Idaho law, the bill would embrace theories and concepts that run counter to basic biology and subvert the traditional understanding of gender.

(-1)