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Transgender children and adults in North Dakota will no longer be able to access bathrooms, locker rooms or showers that match the gender they identify with in places like college dorms or prisons, under new legislation signed by Republican Gov. Doug Burgum.
Burgum’s office announced Wednesday that he signed the bill the day before. The measure passed the state House and Senate with a veto-proof majority.
Dormitories and living facilities controlled by state boards of higher education are affected, as well as correctional facilities for juveniles and adults. Toilets and shower rooms will be designated for use exclusively by men or exclusively for women. Transgender or gender non-conforming individuals must obtain approval from a staff member to use the bathroom or restrooms of their choice.
The governor’s office declined to comment on the bill Wednesday.
News of the legislation’s signing comes the same day Montana lawmakers banned transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr from the House floor because Republican leaders chose to remain silent during the 2023 session.
The new lawmaker’s punishment capped a week-long standoff between state House Democrats and Republicans after Zephyr told colleagues last week he would “see blood on [their] hands” over previous votes to ban gender-affirming medical treatment for children.
The American Civil Liberties Union has said that so far this year, more than 450 bills attacking transgender rights have been introduced in state legislatures.
Another bill limits health care
Rep. Eric Murphy is one of three North Dakota Republicans who defied the party and voted against the bill while it was in the House.
“I’m not trying to be polarized. I just don’t think there is a need for rules,” he said in an interview after the new law was announced. Murphy, a professor of biomedical sciences at the University of North Dakota, said he doesn’t think there should be a law to tell school officials how to deal with this problem.
Republican Rep. Jeff Hoverson supported the bill. “Why don’t you want a men’s bathroom for men, and a women’s bathroom for women?” said Wednesday.
Experts say that gender is a spectrum, not a binary structure that only consists of men and women, and can vary according to society and change over time. Gender refers to biological characteristics, such as chromosomes, hormones, and reproductive anatomy, which may also vary or change in understanding over time, or be medically and legally modified.
Last week, the governor signed a bill that restricts transgender health care in the state, making it a crime to provide gender-affirming treatment to anyone under the age of 18.
The measure also received veto-proof support from Republican lawmakers, although some Republicans abstained, along with all Democrats.
Earlier this month, Burgum also signed a ban on transgender athletes into law after it also passed the House and Senate with a veto-proof majority. In 2021, Burgum vetoed a bill that would have imposed a ban on transgender athletes at that time, but lawmakers in the House and Senate did not have enough votes to override the veto.
Republican lawmakers across the country have also banned gender-based treatment of minors. Restrictions have been enacted in eight states this year — including Utah and South Dakota — and are slated for at least the next nine years.
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