Transgender activists have flooded a Utah tip line created to alert state officials to possible violations of a new bathroom law with thousands of hoax reports in an effort to shield trans residents and their allies from any legitimate complaints that could lead to an investigation.
The onslaught has led the state official tasked by law with managing the tip line, Utah Auditor John Dougall, to bemoan getting stuck with the cumbersome task of filtering through fake complaints while also facing backlash for enforcing a law he had no role in passing.
“No auditor goes into auditing so they can be the bathroom monitors," Dougall said Tuesday. "I think there were much better ways for the Legislature to go about addressing their concerns, rather than this ham-handed approach.”