Last year eight anti-trans bills were passed in North Dakota during the North Dakota Legislative session and signed into law by Governor Doug Burgum. These bills have a direct impact on public schools that can now be seen in the first full year since they have been enacted such as in schools, community, and government.
The greatest impact of these bills are on the students of North Dakota. House Bill 1249 prohibits trans women from participating in school sports based on biological sex; this law targets a specific group of people, while also limiting the experiences a student can have in high school. House Bill 1473 prohibits trans students from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity. The bill with the most weight is House Bill 1522. This bill requires teachers to misgender and out students to their families. This can be problematic for students that may not be out to their parents at home. Those who do not have supportive families can risk abuse and homelessness from revealing their sexual orientation or preferred gender. Lesley University proves this in the statistic, “1.6 million youth are homeless each year and up to 40 percent of them identify as LGBT”. Requiring teachers to out students will only add to this statistic.
These laws also influence the overall queer community in Fargo. Due to the series of laws being passed they have decided to move the pride parade, that is usually on Broadway, to Moorhead later in the year. The LGBT+ community fears the turning tides of discrimination in North Dakota, supported by laws. House Bill 1333 prohibits ‘adult cabaret’ on public property or in front of minors, this includes drag shows. House Bill 1333 limits the usual Drag Queens that would participate in the parade and put on a show in Fargo. This is the same for the LGBT+ community within schools as well. Many of these bills are viewed as transphobic. Many trans teens experience body dysmorphia and depression, this is not helped by an unsupportive school environment. Much of this can be seen in the statistics provided by The Trevor Project.
On national and local scales questions are being asked about whether these laws are just. The Civil Rights Bill Title IX, “prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity) in educational programs and activities that receive or benefit from Federal financial assistance.” The organization ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), an organization dedicated to protection human rights, believes that House Bill 1473 is in direct violation of Title IX.
As does Fargo Schools superintendent Dr. Rupak Gandhi, who has spoken out against these laws on May 9th during a school board meeting. Stating, “as a district and as an Administration my responsibility is to our students and our Educators and there will be times where we have to make decisions that may not be interpreted in the same accordance of the spirit of state law because I do think that they’re going to be a violation of federal law and it’s not just a matter of federal law but as Educators we all have a responsibility to make sure that if there is any situation even if it’s something that we don’t think is appropriate or something that we’re not allowed to do if we see a direct harm for students we’re going to do what’s right”. He firmly shows support for the trans students in Fargo; however, this will not be the same in all schools, due to a lack of stance on the matter.