A state Senate committee heard emotional testimony on House Bill 269 on Thursday. The bill would prohibit transgender students at public colleges from living in dorms that don’t match their biological sex.

The controversy erupted after conservative Utah pundit Eric Moutsos posted on X that “Utah State University’s women’s dorm has allegedly allowed a ‘transgender’ individual as a ‘Dorm Mom,’ turning a supposed safe haven for female students into a nightmare of wokism that threatens the safety of female residents.”

The Utah House passed HB269, a bill that would require public universities that provide on-campus housing to only rent sex-designated rooms to biological females and biological males, as Democrats made an emotional appeal against making LGBTQ+ Utahns fearful to live in the state.

LOGAN – A student dorm at Utah State University was evacuated Thursday night due to a “hazmat situation.” The situation impacted those living at Mountain View Towers, according to the Logan Fire Department. University police said at approximately 8:15 p.m., students on the first floor reported smelling fumes.

HB26 requires the Utah Board of Higher Education to provide universities with instructions for complying with legislation.

Utah’s only openly LGBTQ lawmaker choked back tears Tuesday as she pleaded for her state House colleagues not to pass another bill aimed at the transgender community. This marks the fourth year in a row that the state has moved to do so.