Click here for complete information on HB 1144, including updates, hearings, and testimony submission.

• The House passed an amended HB 1144 on February 7th and has been referred to the Senate Education Committee.

What will this bill do?

• Clarifies and strengthens a bill that was passed during the last legislative session and provides a penalty option for failure to comply.

  • The current law in question:

    • Prohibits a government entity from adopting a policy requiring an employee to:

      • Use an individual's preferred pronoun when addressing or mentioning the individual in work-related communications; or

      • Designate the employee's preferred pronoun in work-related communications.

    • Prohibits public school boards and teachers from adopting a policy that requires or prohibits the use of a student's preferred gender pronoun.

    • Requires school boards, with the approval of the parent or legal guardian, to implement a plan for the use of a separate restroom accommodation for a transgender student.

    • Prohibits students from using a restroom that does not coincide with the student's biological sex.

    • Prohibits a school district, public school, or public school teacher from:

      • Adopting a policy concerning a particular student's transgender status without approval from the student's parent or legal guardian

      • Withholding or concealing information about a student's transgender status from the student's parent or legal guardian.

• Proposed additions to the current law include:

  • Clarifying that a board of a school district, public school, or public school teacher may not adopt a policy or guidelines, whether implicit or explicit, requiring or prohibiting an individual from using a student's preferred gender pronoun.

  • Requiring that restrooms and shower rooms on school grounds be designated exclusively for males or exclusively for females and may be used only by members of the designated sex.

  • Prohibiting multi-stall gender neutral restrooms and shower rooms.

  • Empowering the Attorney General to enforce and prosecute for failing to comply.

  • Providing a civil penalty option not to exceed $2500 for failing to comply.

Why is this bill needed?

• Fargo Superintendent of Schools Rupak Gandhi announced to the school board at their May 9, 2023 meeting that he and the school district would not be following the recently signed-into-law HB 1522. The open defiance of Gandhi to follow state law highlights the need to hold activist educators accountable for breaking the law and overstepping parental authority.

• Federal agencies have tried to force schools to grant access to sex-specific intimate facilities based on self-declared gender identity instead of biological sex.

• Students, particularly women and girls, have valid concerns about privacy and safety in intimate spaces.