Florida bathroom law threatens penalizing transgender college faculty

Faculty and staff at public colleges in Florida could be fired for using the bathroom.

Why it matters: In a blow for transgender rights, the state's education board passed a rule on Wednesday that mandates people at these institutions to use the bathroom corresponding to their assigned sex at birth or a unisex bathroom.

• The rule also applies to changing facilities and university student housing.
• Student handbooks, disciplinary procedures and codes of conduct have to be updated with the new rules, although it is unclear how students might be reprimanded.

Threat level: Faculty and staff could be fired after two documented offenses, per the Florida Department of Education.

• "Disciplinary actions may utilize a progressive discipline process that includes verbal warnings, written reprimands, suspension without pay, and termination," the department said.

Context: The new rule is intended to comply with a law passed in May that criminalizes the use of bathrooms that don't align with a person's sex at birth.

• This bill and others targeting transgender people signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis were dubbed a "slate of hate" by activists.
• DeSantis has taken efforts to prohibit gender-affirming care for transgender youth in Florida.

Go deeper: The forces behind anti-trans bills across the U.S.