Transgender Student Arrested After Breaking FL's Restroom Law

TALLAHASSEE, FL — In an act of protest, a transgender college student who said, “I am here to break the law,” before entering a women’s restroom at the Florida State Capitol was led out in handcuffs by police.

In what could be a first for the U.S., the Associated Press reported 20-year-old Illinois resident Marcy Rheintgen was arrested on March 19 after she violated Florida's transgender bathroom restrictions by entering the Capitol's women's restroom.

“I wanted people to see the absurdity of this law in practice,” Rheintgen told The Associated Press. “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.”

Florida is reportedly one of 14 states that have enacted laws to ban transgender people from entering bathrooms at public schools and some government buildings that do not match their birth genders. The Tampa Bay Times reported the bill passed in 2023.

Civil rights attorneys say the arrest of Rheintgen last month is the first they know of for violating transgender bathroom restrictions passed by numerous state legislatures across the country.

Capitol police had been alerted and were waiting for Rheintgen when she entered the building in Tallahassee March 19. They told her she would receive a trespass 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, according to an arrest affidavit.

“I know that you know in your heart that this law is wrong and unjust,” Rheintgen said in a letter she sent to lawmakers before she went to the capitol, per the Times. “I know that you know in your heart that transgender people are human too, and 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.”

Officers who met Rheintgen at the restroom warned they would attempt to work with her, stating she would receive a court appearance rather than be arrested, the Times reported.

However, Rheintgen was arrested on a charge of misdemeanor trespassing, which is punishable by up to 60 days in jail, the Associated Press reported. Her court appearance will be held in May.

“The arrest of Marcy Rheintgen is not about safety,” Nadine Smith, Equality Florida’s executive director, said in the Times report. “It’s about cruelty, humiliation and the deliberate erosion of human dignity.”

The Republican sponsors of the Florida bathroom law, Rep. Rachel Plakon and Sen. Erin Grall, did not respond to phone messages, emails and visits to their offices to seek comment on Rheintgen’s arrest. They have said the restrictions are needed to protect women and girls in single-sex spaces.

“People are telling me it’s a legal test, like this is the first case that’s being brought,” Rheintgen said in the Associated Press report. “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.”

The Associated Press contributed writing and reporting.