Doug Burgum, the Republican governor of North Dakota, signed a bill into law to allow public school teachers to ignore gender identity and prohibit hiding from parents if their children identify with a gender other than their biological gender.
House Bill 1522 became effective immediately, making it the eighth legislation this year targeting the LGBTQ community.
The law consists of three sections on pronoun preference, the use of restrooms for transgender students and penalties for infractions. Now, both public school students and their staff can ignore a student's gender identity and rely on his or her biological sex. Also, transgender students must use the restrooms and locker rooms that match their birth gender.
The legislation includes a clause noting the teacher's responsibility to inform parents or legal guardians if the minor identifies as transgender.
#NorthDakota Gov. @DougBurgum signed a bill that will allow teachers, school officials, and government entities to ignore a student’s preferred pronoun and ban hiding a student’s transgender status from their parents. https://t.co/EZ734xe2yf
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) May 9, 2023
The bill "codifies existing practices while reaffirming the First Amendment right to free speech, requiring restroom accommodations, balancing the rights and interests of students, parents and teachers, and not including the concerning language from the previously vetoed and sustained SB 2231," said the governor.
Burgum had vetoed a very similar bill last month. However, the Senate later resubmitted the bill excluding language that the governor found "concerning." This change led both legislative chambers to approve the new proposal, becoming a law.
