North Dakota’s Republican governor vetoed a bill that would generally prohibit public schools teachers and staff from referring to transgender students by pronouns other than those reflecting the sex assigned to them at birth.
The state Senate voted 37-9 to override the veto Thursday afternoon, just hours after Gov. Doug Burgum’s office announced his decision.
The House, which will convene Friday, must still vote on the override, The Bismarck Tribune reported. The House approved the bill 60-32 in February, three votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to override the veto.
If the bill became law, public school teachers and employees would be barred from using a transgender student’s preferred pronoun unless they have permission from the student’s parents as well as a school administrator.
The bill would also prohibit government agencies from requiring employees to use a transgender colleague’s preferred pronoun.
The proposal comes as Republican lawmakers across the U.S. have drafted hundreds of laws this year to push back on LGBTQ+ freedoms, particularly seeking to regulate aspects of transgender people’s lives, including gender-affirming health care, bathroom use, athletics and drag performances.
Although the bill also addresses state employees, Burgum’s veto message focused on its potential impact on public schools.
“The teaching profession is challenging enough without the heavy hand of state government forcing teachers to take on the role of pronoun police,” Burgum said in a letter to state Senate leaders. “Parents, teachers and administrators using compassion, empathy and common sense can address individual and infrequent situations that may arise.”
AP
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