North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum on Thursday vetoed a bill restricting transgender students’ pronouns, though his decision has since been overruled by the state Senate.
Senate Bill 2231 would prohibit teachers and school staff from referring to students and colleagues by pronouns that don’t match the sex they were assigned at birth.
Shortly after Burgum’s decision, Senate lawmakers voted 37-9 to overrule his decision. The bill now heads to the House, where it will need 63 out of 94 votes to become law.
The move is the latest example of an ongoing push by Republican lawmakers in conservative states to restrict the rights of the LGBTQ community — especially transgender youth.
Burgum, a Republican, explained his veto in a letter to the president of the Senate, saying the bill would put educators in a difficult position of trying to determine how to properly refer to their students without breaking the law. Burgum added that “ambiguity throughout this bill would invite lawsuits.”
“The teaching profession is challenging enough without the heavy hand of state government forcing teachers to take on the role of pronoun police. Parents, teachers and administrators using compassion, empathy and common sense can address individual and infrequent situations that may arise,” he wrote.
Civil rights advocates applauded the governor’s decision.
“Victory!” the American Civil Liberties Union of North Dakota wrote on social media, saying Burgum had “vetoed legislation that would have prohibited schools from adopting inclusive policies that acknowledge the gender identity of their students.”
Cathryn Oakley, state legislative director and senior counsel of the Human Rights Campaign, said Burgum “did the right thing” by vetoing the bill, which would have given teachers “a free pass to harass and misgender” trans students and colleagues.
“In light of ongoing anti-LGBTQ+ attacks coming from the statehouse, Governor Burgum’s rejection of this bill is important to the dignity of many transgender North Dakotans,” Oakley added.
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