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A state district court judge in Missoula on Wednesday blocked a recently passed law allowing public and some private facilities to be sued if they don’t enforce strict sex segregation in bathrooms, locker rooms and sleeping areas.

, signed by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte last Thursday, was endorsed by Republican lawmakers as a way to protect women and girls against harassment and privacy invasions. Opponents said the bill would force transgender and intersex Montanans to use facilities that don’t match their gender identity and aimed to intimidate them out of public spaces.

The legislation took effect immediately upon its signing. A related bill also signed by Gianforte last week, dealing with athletic participation for transgender students, is slated to take effect in October.

The ACLU of Montana filed a lawsuit challenging the bathroom bill’s constitutionality the same day it was signed into law. The plaintiffs in the case include employees of state agencies, a public college and others who work in the state Capitol building.

In his Wednesday order, Judge Shane A. Vannatta agreed with the plaintiffs’ assertions that HB 121 at least appeared to threaten Montana’s constitutional rights to equal protection, privacy, due process and the right to pursue life’s basic necessities.

“In their motion and supporting papers, plaintiffs have made the requisite showing that they are likely to succeed on, or have at least shown serious questions going to, the merits of their claims that the Act violates the Montana Constitution,” Vannatta found. 

The ACLU’s complaint described HB 121 as pressuring plaintiffs to use a bathroom that corresponds to their chromosomes and reproductive biology instead of the facilities that align with their appearance and identity, potentially compromising their employment and use of other public spaces.

The bill applies to public spaces, such as libraries, jails, schools and other state and county buildings, as well as domestic violence shelters.

“The Act forces transgender Montanans into the Hobson’s choice between using sex-separated facilities inconsistent with their gender identity — an uncomfortable, humiliating, and often dangerous prospect — and avoiding public spaces altogether,” the lawsuit said.

Vannatta’s ruling noted that the temporary restraining order prohibiting Gianforte and Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen from enforcing HB 121 will only hold until the court can consider both parties’ arguments on whether the law should be preliminarily enjoined. Vannatta scheduled a hearing on that issue for April 21 in the Missoula County Courthouse.

Alex Rate, legal director for the ACLU of Montana, praised the judge’s ruling in a Wednesday morning statement. 

“The state’s repeated attacks on transgender Montanans continue to fail constitutional scrutiny,” Rate said. “Every Montanan — whether you are transgender or not — should be grateful that our constitution protects us from discrimination and harassment by the government.”

A spokesperson for Gianforte criticized the order, calling HB 121 a “common sense” policy.

“The governor was proud to sign House Bill 121 into law because a man shouldn’t be in a women’s restroom, shouldn’t be in a women’s shower room, and shouldn’t be housed in a women’s prison,” press secretary Kaitlin Price said in a written statement. “We’ll defend the law and the privacy and safety of women and girls.”

Price also said that the judge’s ruling did not appear to consider another recently signed law, , which revised the standards for how a court can issue a preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order. The bill, which also went into effect immediately, was signed by Gianforte two days before he approved HB 121. 

The sponsor of the bathroom and locker room legislation, , told �ԹϺ��� Wednesday that she was not surprised by the judge’s decision. But she said she stood by the bill’s intent to protect women and girls from feeling unsafe or uncomfortable in public spaces.

“This is honestly a conversation that we’re having nationwide right now, and I’m thrilled that Montana is part of the conversation,” Seekins-Crowe said. “I’m just glad to be at the foundation of it.”