Bills on Gender Debated by North Dakota Lawmakers

Rep. Lori VanWinkle, R-Minot, speaks in favor of a bill to legalize conversion therapy at a House Human Services Committee meeting . (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)

(Mary Steurer – North Dakota Monitor) – A panel of lawmakers considered two bills Tuesday that could have sweeping impacts on LGBTQ rights in the state: one requiring North Dakota to recognize only two genders and another authorizing social workers to offer conversion therapy.

House Bill 1181, introduced by Rep. SuAnn Olson, R-Baldwin, would require all state-funded entities to refer to people by their sex as determined at birth. For example, state agencies would be forbidden to use female pronouns to refer to a transgender woman. A similar bill failed during the 2023 session.

The rule would apply to all “to all policies, records, forms, rules, standards, procedures, guides, materials, instruction, training, correspondence, advertising, or marketing used by any entity receiving state funding,” according to the bill.

Olson pointed to an executive order President Donald Trump signed Monday establishing a two-gender policy for the federal government.

“As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female,” he said during his inauguration speech.