The North Dakota House on Wednesday approved a bill that would require teachers to address students using pronouns that match their biological sex.
In a 60-32 vote, the state passed Senate Bill 2231, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Larry Lewick and state Sen. Scott Meyer, which would require public school teachers to use the pronouns of a student’s biological gender unless parents give permission. behave differently. The bill cleared the state Senate in February and now heads to the desk of Republican North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
“This is a grassroots bill,” Republican state Rep. Lori Van Winkle said in Central Square. “We return to our constitutional obligations as legislators in the matter of education. Teachers can also rest easy knowing that they only need to remember one pronoun and historically recognized and biological pronouns.”
The legislation would also prevent school districts from adopting policies that direct teachers on how to handle gender identity issues. Under the bill, school districts cannot schedule professional development sessions on such topics.
“It’s another week in the legislative session, and we have another bill that tells some people that they have value or they don’t have value in our state,” Democratic state Rep. Josh Boche told The Associated Press.
Lawmakers across the country are pushing legislation that would require a parent’s permission for a student to change their pronouns at school; California Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa has sponsored the Parental Privacy Policy Ban Act in Congress, which would withhold federal funding from schools if they don’t implement a policy that requires a parent’s permission before a student can change their pronouns. In California, state Rep. Bill Essaly introduced legislation that would give public school administrators three days to notify parents if their child changes gender at school.
Content created by Reagan Rees
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