Trans woman arrested for using women's restroom in Florida Capitol

Romy Ellenbogen, Tampa Bay Times on Apr 1, 2025

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In what could be one of the first arrests under a bathroom bill lawmakers passed in 2023, Florida police earlier this month jailed a transgender woman who washed her hands in a women’s restroom at the Capitol.

Marcy Rheintgen, a 20-year-old Illinois resident, was arrested by Capitol police March 19 on a trespassing charge after she alerted state officials that she planned to use the bathroom in protest of the law.

Lawmakers in 2023 passed legislation making it a criminal offense for some people to use restrooms in correctional facilities, schools or public buildings that don’t match their sex at birth.

Rheintgen calls Florida a “home away from home” and said she felt disturbed at the idea she could be targeted for using a women’s restroom.

She sent letters earlier in March to Florida lawmakers warning them that she planned to use a specific women’s bathroom in the Capitol and included a photo of herself for identification.

“I know that you know in your heart that this law is wrong and unjust,” Rheintgen said in her letter. “I know that you know in your heart that transgender people are human too, and you can’t arrest us away.”

“I know that you know that I have dignity,” Rheintgen said. “That’s why I know that you won’t arrest me.”

On the day Rheintgen planned to use the bathroom, she was met outside by two officers who said they would try to work with her. Rheintgen decided to use the bathroom anyway.

Officers in the restroom told Rheintgen that they would issue her a notice to appear in front of a judge, which would avoid her being sent to jail. They ended up arresting her instead.

According to the arrest affidavit, officers said Rheintgen didn’t meet the criteria for a notice to appear. Rheintgen said she was a little bit “sassy” when the officers were talking to her, and she said she implied she might use the women’s restroom again.

The trespassing charge is a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail.

It’s unclear if anyone else in the state has been arrested under the 2023 law. That bill came amid other anti-LGBTQ legislation, including a bill prohibiting children from receiving medical therapies for gender dysphoria and a bill that critics said could shut down drag performances.

LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Florida on Tuesday decried Rheintgen’s arrest and said the law’s goal is intimidation.

“The arrest of Marcy Rheintgen is not about safety,” said Nadine Smith, Equality Florida’s executive director. “It’s about cruelty, humiliation, and the deliberate erosion of human dignity.”

Rheintgen, who said she’s a moderate conservative, was released from jail on pretrial release about 24 hours later.

She said she regrets her experience and didn’t think she’d actually be arrested; now back at school, she said she has to find a way to fly back to Florida for further hearings.

“Everything that is politics seems very abstract and philosophical from far away,” Rheintgen said. “This is the first time it’s really affected me. I got arrested and I got sent to jail because of Gov. (Ron) DeSantis’ policies — like that’s crazy, that’s crazy!"

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