Transgender woman protests new law with visit to a Wyoming Capitol bathroom
FROM WYOFILE:
Rihanna Kelver used the women’s restroom at the Wyoming Capitol building Tuesday in defiance of a new law prohibiting transgender people’s use of public facilities.
CHEYENNE—Standing outside a women’s restroom in the Wyoming State Capitol, Rihanna Kelver gazed downward, clasped her hands and took a deep breath.
Like countless times before, Kelver, 27, was about to use a public restroom. But today was different. A new law had just gone into effect.
Starting Tuesday in Wyoming, “in each public facility, no person shall enter a changing area, restroom or sleeping quarters that is designated for males or females unless the person is a member of that sex,” according to the statute.
In other words, the new law requires people to use the facility that corresponds to the sex they were assigned at birth, regardless of their gender identity, physical appearance or what appears on their legal documents. While it does not impose criminal or civil liability on anyone who violates the law, it leaves governmental bodies on the hook if they fail to enforce the restriction.
Kelver, a transgender woman, had driven from her home in Laramie, accompanied by a small group of friends and supporters, to test the bounds of the new law.
“That’s the thing. We’re showing up to the state and asking them to put their money where their mouth is,” Kelver told WyoFile outside the capitol building.
In the days and weeks leading up to this moment, Kelver had felt anxious, she said.
She’d made public statements before. In high school, she came out to her peers in her campaign speech for student body president. And when she was 18, Kelver ran for Albany County School Board as an openly transgender candidate.
“This one, the ‘what ifs’ are a lot more diverse,” Kelver said. “They’re a lot more unknown. And there’s more severity to some of those ‘what ifs’ for today.”
And yet, Kelver said she felt compelled to go through with it.
“I want to be here today because I know the fear and anxiety I felt with these laws and within the national conversation,” Kelver told WyoFile outside the Capitol. “I want to be here so [others] know they don’t have to feel alone, and that’s the biggest message.”
Ahead of her demonstration, Kelver gave the Wyoming Highway Patrol and governor’s office a heads up about her plans to use a women’s bathroom in the capitol.
In case she got arrested, Kelver gave her keys, wallet and phone to her fiancé before walking into the building. She tucked her ID card into the front pocket of her black jeans.
“I do not inherently believe in the state’s interpretation of my own identity, nor will I willfully be silent in the enforcement of where and how I can exist in public as who I am. I mean no one else harm,” Kelver said in a short speech before ascending the capitol steps.
“Today, I am about to enter [the Capitol] with a couple of my friends, to use the women’s restroom in accordance with my gender identity and legal identity,” she said. “I don’t know what’s about to happen, but I’m ready for whatever happens.”
Outside the bathroom doors, a friend, who’d been recording Kelver on a phone, stopped while Nichol Bondurant, Kelver’s former English teacher, walked in ahead of Kelver to make sure it was empty. (Kelver later said she “didn’t want to throw anybody in the middle” of her decision.)
When it was all clear, Kelver walked in, used the facility, washed her hands and exited. That was it.
“Have a good day,” Kelver, in passing, told the highway patrolmen at a nearby desk.
“Same to you,” he responded.
How we got here
Wyoming’s new bathroom restrictions were just one of a slate of measures lawmakers passed in the 2025 session to restrict the rights of transgender people.
A second bathroom-related bill puts the onus on public school students to use restrooms, locker rooms and sleeping quarters that align with their sex at birth. And an extension of the 2023 sports ban now applies to collegiate athletics in Wyoming.
While LGBTQ+ advocates hope to use the legal system to defeat the new laws, no such legal challenge has yet to be filed.
Meanwhile, the legislation’s sponsors have said the new laws are not about restricting rights, but safety and privacy.
As Tuesday’s demonstration unfolded uneventfully, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus took to social media. The group, which represents the Legislature’s further-right flank, has been outspoken in its opposition to transgender rights.
“We call on Governor Gordon to utilize the good men and women of the Wyoming Highway Patrol on site at the People’s House to defend House Bill 72, now House Enrolled Act 48,” the caucus posted on X.
The governor’s office declined to comment to WyoFile.
Jessie Rubino, the Wyoming state director for the State Freedom Caucus Network, was at the Capitol to watch the demonstration, but declined to comment.
In April, a transgender woman was arrested in Florida after washing her hands in a bathroom at that state capitol. The woman was protesting a law that criminalizes using restrooms in public buildings that don’t match one’s sex at birth. The case was dropped this week.
Outside the capitol building, Kelver returned to the rest of her supporters, standing in the shade of a cottonwood tree, who cheered her return.
“As some of you know, I ran away from Laramie and Wyoming for a little bit because I got scared,” Kelver said, referring to a recent year-long spell in Colorado.
“But I made my decision. I’m back. I’m gonna be loud. I’m gonna be obnoxious for the state, not out of volition, but just because of who I am.
“So I love you all,” she concluded. “Thank you for coming.”
WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.
This story was posted on July 1, 2025.