North Dakota has passed legislation prohibiting school districts from withholding information from parents regarding their children's gender identity amid a nationwide movement to preserve safety and privacy for women and girls and parental rights.
North Dakota's Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong signed House Bill 1144 into law Thursday. Armstrong's approval of the measure follows its passage in the Republican-controlled North Dakota House of Representatives in a 75-14 vote and its clearance in the Republican-controlled North Dakota Senate in a 40-7 vote.
The votes fell mainly along party lines, with all support for the legislation coming from Republicans and most opposition coming from Democrats. Four House Republicans and two Senate Republicans broke from their party to join Democrats in opposing it.
The bill bans school districts from adopting policies related to particular students' gender identity without approval from that student's parents or legal guardian. Additionally, the bill bans school officials from withholding or concealing "information about a student's transgender status from the student's parent or legal guardian."
The bill comes as reports suggest over 3 million children across the United States attend school districts that have policies to require staff not to inform parents if their child is going by a different gender or name unless the child says it's OK for them to be informed.
School districts have faced lawsuits from parents after finding out that school officials have referred to their trans-identified children using names and pronouns that align with their stated gender identity at school, while referring to the children using their given name and pronouns in communication with parents.
In a 2021 lawsuit filed against several school officials in Leon County, Florida, parent January Littlejohn accused the school district of working to create a "wedge" between her and her teenage daughter by engaging in this course of action. More recently, in 2023, the Chico Unified School District in California faced a lawsuit from parent Aurora Regino alleging that school officials referred to her daughter using a male name and pronouns for several weeks without her consent.
Last week, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said the U.S. Department of Justice would consider it "child abuse" if public school officials help students transition genders at school behind their parents' backs.
North Dakota's House Bill 1144 also amended state law to declare that "a restroom or shower room on school grounds, which is accessible by multiple individuals at one time, must be designated for use exclusively for males or exclusively for females and may be used only by members of the designated sex." It clarifies that multi-stall "gender neutral restrooms and shower rooms" are prohibited.
Additional changes to state law made in the measure enable schools to "change the designation of a restroom or shower room from one designated sex to the other designated sex to accommodate a school-sponsored event."
Parents will have the right to "submit a complaint to the school district" if school district officials work to "withhold or conceal information about a student's transgender status from the student's parent or legal guardian."
House Bill 1144 builds on legislation passed two years ago that prohibits schools from allowing trans-identified students to use restrooms and other sex-segregated spaces that align with their stated gender identity. North Dakota is one of 19 states that require trans-identified people to use restrooms that correspond to their biological sex in some or all cases.
North Dakota joins Alabama, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio and West Virginia in requiring trans-identified people use restrooms that correspond to their sex in K-12 schools and some government-owned buildings. Florida, Montana, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming prohibit trans-identified males from women's restrooms in all government-owned buildings, including K-12 schools and colleges.
Similar laws in place in Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia only apply to K-12 schools.
The effort to pass this type of legislation stems from safety and privacy concerns for women. In 2022, female athletes at the University of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit over the presence of trans-identified male swimmer Lia Thomas in the women's locker room at a swimming championship event. The complaint noted that Thomas still has intact male genitalia and is "attracted to women."
