Idaho Republicans are trying to strip localities of nondiscrimination ordinances that protect LGBTQ+ peoplehttps://www.advocate.com/politics/states/idaho-republicans-target-lgbtq-nondiscrimination 🔗Christopher Wiggins (27 Feb 2026)
Idaho Republicans are advancing legislation that would void local nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ residents in more than a dozen cities. Advocates warn that it represents not merely a policy disagreement but a decisive turn toward rescinding existing civil rights protections.
House Bill 557, which has already passed the Idaho House and now sits in the Senate State Affairs Committee, would prohibit cities and counties from adopting or enforcing nondiscrimination ordinances that extend beyond state law. Because Idaho's Human Rights Act does not include sexual orientation or gender identity as protected classes, the measure would not only block future local protections but also erase existing ones in 12 cities and two counties, jurisdictions that together encompass roughly 36 percent of the state's population.
"This specific bill we're talking about, HB 557 would eliminate the ability of localities to pass non-discrimination policies protecting characteristics like gender identity or sexual orientation that are not currently protected under state law," Liam Cutler, policy counsel for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, explained in an interview with The Advocate. The legislation "would also remove existing protections that are in place, essentially stripping those LGBTQ folks of the protections that they currently have under law," he said.
