North Dakota governor signs transgender bathroom bill

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) this week signed legislation barring transgender people from using certain restrooms, locker rooms and other facilities that align with their gender identity.

Burgum on Tuesday quietly enacted House Bill 1473, requiring state correctional facilities and public colleges to designate multi-occupancy restrooms and shower rooms “exclusively for males or exclusively for females.”

Administrators, correctional officers or college dormitory staff under the new law may provide “reasonable accommodation” for transgender or gender nonconforming students or inmates.

The measure sailed through North Dakota’s GOP-controlled House and Senate, passing each chamber with veto-proof margins. It is the sixth measure Burgum has signed into law this month that targets the rights of LGBTQ people, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Burgum last week signed a bill that makes providing gender-affirming health care to transgender minors a felony crime, punishable by up to a decade in prison.

Eight states have now enacted laws or policies that explicitly bar transgender students from using school facilities consistent with their gender identity, including four — Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa and Kentucky — that have done so this year.

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