Idaho governor signs bill to force teachers, doctors to out transgender minors to their parents
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Kyle Pfannenstiel, Idaho Capital Sun
BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) — Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Friday signed into law a bill to require teachers and doctors to out transgender minors to their parents, or face lawsuits.
House Bill 822 requires schools, health care providers and child care providers to notify parents within three days after the entities receive “any request by the minor student to participate in or facilitate the social transition of the minor student.”
That would include: Using a different name than their legal name, including a nickname; using pronouns or titles that don’t align with their sex assigned at birth; using restrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, or overnight lodging that are meant to be used by another sex; and playing on a sports team of another sex.
Entities would be banned from assisting a minor’s social transition efforts without written consent from their parent. The attorney general could seek up to $100,000 in civil fines for entities that violate the bill.
The law takes effect July 1.
The bill passed the Republican supermajority-controlled Legislature widely, with support from all but three Republican lawmakers who were present for the votes. The bill was largely opposed by the Legislature’s 15 Democrats. Boise Democratic Rep. Brooke Green said she accidentally voted in favor of the bill last week.
Major medical groups say gender-affirming care is medically necessary and safe. The American Medical Association last month reiterated that gender-affirming care is “medically necessary.” Some European nations are tightening standards for gender affirming-care.
Nine protestors who opposed anti-trans bills were arrested on trespassing charges last week in the Idaho governor’s office at the Capitol in Boise after refusing to leave once the office closed.
The bill builds on a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ bills the Legislature and the governor have approved in recent years.
Last week, on Transgender Day of Visibility, Little signed into law two anti-LGBTQ+ bills. In the morning, the city of Boise removed an LGBTQ+ pride flag — because the governor signed an expanded flag ban law. In the afternoon, just as people rallied on the Capitol steps for Trans Day of Visibility, Little signed a bill that advocates describe as the most extreme transgender bathroom ban in the nation. The bill criminalizes transgender people using bathrooms that align with their gender identity, including in private businesses.
House Bill 822, focused on minors’ social transition, was brought by Rep. Bruce Skaug. The Nampa Republican lawmaker led efforts to criminalize gender-affirming care for all minors in Idaho and expand the ban to taxpayer funds, which prevented Medicaid from covering gender-affirming care and prompted an eastern Idaho clinic to halt offering gender-affirming care.
In 2020, Idaho became the first state to ban transgender girls and women from competing on sports teams that align with their gender identity.
Bill closes loophole in law that banned gender-affirming care for minors, lawmaker says
In the Senate’s debate, Coeur d’Alene Republican Sen. Ben Toews, who cosponsored the bill, said the bill closes a loophole for social transitions in the state’s law that outlaws gender affirming care for minors.
“A loophole was left in the law, and it did not mention social transitions, the process by which vulnerable children are led into the pipeline,” Toews said. “This bill is before us today to close that loophole. This legislation upholds parental rights through transparency.”
Sen. James Ruchti, a Pocatello Democrat, recounted a story — featured in his local newspaper, the Idaho State Journal — about a couple who was arrested after allegedly severely beating a 7-year-old girl.
“When we write these statutes, we’re writing them for all families,” Ruchti told senators. “And so when nurses, when doctors, when educators tell us ‘We need a little room to be able to handle these situations carefully … it means that we have to possibly go to a family like this and tell them something that that family may not be in a great place to hear.’”
Dr. Jessica Rolynn, a doctor who practices gender-affirming care in eastern Idaho, told the Idaho Capital Sun that the bill “removes the professional judgement that allows clinicians and educators to keep children safe.”
“Not every home is safe. Some youth face rejection, emotional harm, or even homelessness when sensitive information is revealed without careful planning,” Rolynn said. “This bill contains no mechanism for safety assessment and no allowance for clinical discretion.”
Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.
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