Florida transgender student arrested after violating bathroom law; thought to be a first: officials

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A transgender college student was arrested after saying "I am here to break the law" and then entering a women’s restroom at the Florida State Capitol. Civil rights attorneys say the arrest is the first they know of for violating transgender bathroom restrictions passed by numerous state legislatures across the country.

‘I am here to break the law’

What we know:

According to an arrest affidavit, police had been alerted to the incident, and they were waiting for 20-year-old Marcy Rheintgen when she entered the building on March 19 in Tallahassee, Florida.

Officials told her she would receive a trespassing warning once she entered the women’s restroom to wash her hands and pray the rosary, but she was later placed under arrest when she refused to leave.

Rheintgen was led out of the women’s restroom in handcuffs by police.

‘Transgender people are human too'

What they're saying:

Rheintgen said she was in town visiting her grandparents when she decided to pen a letter to each of Florida’s 160 state lawmakers informing them of her plan to enter a public restroom inconsistent with her sex assigned at birth. She said her act of civil disobedience was fueled by anger at seeing a place she loves and visits regularly grow hostile toward transgender people.

"I know that you know in your heart that this law is wrong and unjust," she wrote in her letter to lawmakers. "I know that you know in your heart that transgender people are human too, and that you can’t arrest us away. I know that you know that I have dignity. That’s why I know that you won’t arrest me."

"I wanted people to see the absurdity of this law in practice," Rheintgen said. "If I’m a criminal, it’s going to be so hard for me to live a normal life, all because I washed my hands. Like, that’s so insane."

Marcy Rheintgen

‘I’m horrified and scared’

What's next:

Rheintgen faces a misdemeanor trespassing charge, which is punishable by up to 60 days in jail, and is due to appear in court in May.

If Rheintgen is convicted, she worries she could be jailed with men, forced to cut her long hair and prevented temporarily from taking gender-affirming hormones.

"People are telling me it’s a legal test, like this is the first case that’s being brought," she said. "It’s how they test the law. But I didn’t do this to test the law. I did it because I was upset. I can’t have any expectations for what’s going to happen because this has never been prosecuted before. I’m horrified and scared."

Transgender bathroom laws

Dig deeper:

At least 14 states have adopted laws barring transgender women from entering women’s bathrooms in public schools and, in some cases, other government buildings. Florida is one of the only two states to criminalize the act, along with Utah.

Rheintgen’s arrest in Florida is the first that American Civil Liberties Union attorneys are aware of in any state with a criminal ban, senior staff attorney Jon Davidson said.

Her arrest comes as many Republican-led states that have enacted restroom restrictions grapple with how to enforce them. Laws in Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky and North Dakota do not spell out any enforcement mechanism, and even the state laws that do largely rely on private individuals to report violations.

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