This week, Gov. Doug Burgum (R) of North Dakota signed a bill into law that allows teachers at public schools and state government employees to refer to trangender people by their name and pronouns that correspond to their biological sex rather than their gender identity.
According to The Hill, the new legislation requires school teachers to inform a student’s parent or legal guardian if they begin to identify as transgender. The legislation reportedly passed the House and Senate with veto-proof majorities.
In a brief statement, Burgum said the law “largely codifies existing practices while reaffirming the First Amendment right to free speech,” as well as “balancing the rights and interests of students, parents and teachers.”
Opponents of the bill claimed that it violates students’ privacy, particularly for students who identify as transgender and do not want to tell their parents.
“Mandatory outing of a student’s trans identity violates their privacy rights at school — particularly for trans youth who cannot be safe at home,” Cody Schuler, advocacy manager of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Dakota, told NBC News of the legislation. “And creating a supportive working and learning environment also requires treating people with dignity and respect, including — at a minimum — calling them by the name and pronouns they want to use,” he continued, adding that the law is “unlawful” and “discriminatory.”
Several states, including Virginia, have implemented policies to require parents to be kept in the loop about their child's gender identity and do not allow schools to carry out "secret" gender transitions from parents.
Townhall covered last month how Burgum signed two bills into law protecting women’s sports from biological male athletes who identify as transgender women. This comes at a time where the Biden administration is working to rewrite Title IX to allow “sex” to include the concept of “gender identity.”
Previously, Burgum vetoed a nearly identical bill. At that time, the state legislature did not have enough votes to override a veto.
In February, Townhall interviewed Margo Knorr, who runs the North Dakota facet of the Independent Women’s Network. In an interview, Knorr told Townhall that she was working on getting legislation passed to protect women’s sports from trans athletes.
“These women are faced with an issue of privacy, safety, where anybody can claim they’re a female, that’s a male, and they [women] feel bullied into letting them in,” Knorr explained. Knorr was recruited out of high school to play sports in college.
“I think if I had competed against a male I wouldn’t have been able to do all of the things that I was able to do,” Knorr added.