SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — More than 12,000 tips have been filed regarding Utah’s new bathroom law, with most being fake and many containing graphic content, according to Utah State Auditor John Dougall.
“Hi! I’m a concerned citizen, just calling to say suck my cl*** and lick my b***s,” said one of the anonymous callers.
On Tuesday, Dougall released a few of the recordings to the press to illustrate what his office has been dealing with.
Coined the “bathroom bill,” the new law requires state buildings to ensure that people use the restroom matching their birth certificate. Dougall emphasized that these messages are not only inappropriate but also target individuals who had no involvement with the bill, including himself.
“I found out about it [the bill] literally, I think the day it passed,” Dougall said.
Frustrated by the lack of support, Dougall called out the sponsor of the controversial bill, Rep. Kera Birkeland, in a video posted on X (formerly Twitter) earlier this week. Dougall recorded the video from inside a bathroom, starting it with a toilet flushing and asking, “Are you the bathroom monitor?”
“If this bill were actually about making girls safer, you would think that the legislature would actually spend some money retrofitting bathrooms and providing greater privacy,” Dougall said in the video.
Dougall noted that many people misunderstand his role.
“We deal with governmental entities, ensuring they have compliance plans and that the facilities they’ve constructed meet statutory requirements,” Dougall said.
Instead, he feels caught in a culture war — a concern heightened by the state initially allocating only $20,000 to track and capture violations, though this has since changed.
“We have streamlined our complaint review process, so my team can more quickly identify and discard bogus complaints,” Dougall said.
Nevertheless, Dougall expressed disappointment in seeing the tipline turn into a platform for those opposing the law to vent their frustrations, urging people to engage civilly.
“I recognize that at the end of the day, people will still disagree with it. But at least you better talk through what policy you’re trying to achieve,” Dougall advised.
Rep. Birkeland released the following statement:
“HB 257 tasks the auditor’s office with appropriate audit requirements of governmental entities. The legislature did not prescribe a process; instead, we instructed the office to establish the appropriate process to receive and investigate all alleged violations of a governmental entity. The process chosen by the auditor’s office was of his own choosing, and the rollout was unfortunate. Many parents and women have reached out with frustration and disappointment that our auditor hasn’t taken this role seriously and investigated their legitimate complaints.”
Rep. Birkeland
Dougall responded in part, stating that Rep. Birkeland is welcome to deliver any legitimate complaints to his office.
