North Dakota lawmakers have failed to override the governor’s veto of a bill that would have placed restrictions on educators’ use of personal pronouns for transgender students. The bill would have required public school teachers to seek permission from both the student’s parents and a school administrator before acknowledging the pronouns a transgender student uses. Additionally, government agencies would have been prohibited from requiring employees to acknowledge the pronouns a transgender colleague uses.
The vetoed bill was part of a series of hundreds of laws across the US this year aimed at pushing back on LGBTQ+ freedoms, particularly those related to transgender people’s lives. These laws have focused on aspects such as gender-affirming health care, bathroom use, athletics, and drag performances.
Supporters of the bill claimed it would free teachers from worrying about how to address each student and create a better learning environment, while opponents argued that it targeted transgender students, who already have a disproportionately high risk of suicide. All twelve Democrats in the house voted against the bill, as did twenty-four Republicans.
The governor, Doug Burgum, explained his veto in a letter to state lawmakers, stating that the teaching profession was challenging enough without the government forcing teachers to take on the role of “pronoun police.” Existing law already protects the free speech rights of state employees, and the First Amendment protects teachers from speaking contrary to their beliefs.
Despite the setback for supporters of the bill, North Dakota will consider other bills this session concerning transgender students. If lawmakers continue to push for bills such as this, on girls’ athletics, separate bathrooms, or “emphasis on sexuality” in schools, they claim it will strengthen public schools.
President Joe Biden has spoken out against the hundreds of hateful and extreme state laws that target transgender kids and their families, calling them “un-American” and demanding they come to an end. As North Dakota lawmakers look to the future, it remains to be seen what other bills they will consider concerning transgender students.