Idaho passes law protecting school employees who refuse to use trans pronouns

April 10, 2024

Republican Idaho Governor Brad Little has signed into law House Bill 538, a measure that prevents public school employees from being forced to use a student’s “preferred pronouns” in school settings. The legislation is intended to protect public school employees from losing their jobs for referring to trans-identified students by names and pronouns aligned with their biological sex.

The Christian Post reports that the new law would, “ensure that no person in the State of Idaho is compelled by any governmental entity in the State of Idaho to communicate statements that such citizen believes to be false.” 

The law will take effect on July 1 and implements “a prohibition on any governmental entity in the State of Idaho from compelling any public employee or public school student to communicate preferred personal titles and pronouns that do not correspond with the biological sex of the individual seeking to be referred to by such titles or pronouns.”

According to the Christian Post, the law would also afford protection to employees in public institutions of higher learning as well as protecting students from “adverse disciplinary action” for failing to use another person’s preferred pronouns.

The law was passed primarily along party lines with the Republican-dominated House voting for the bill 58-11 and two Republican senators breaking ranks to vote against the bill with their Democratic counterparts in a 25-9 vote last week.

Matt Sharp who is senior counsel with the group Alliance Defending Freedom said in a statement earlier this week: “Forcing individuals to say things that are untrue — such as inaccurate names, pronouns, and titles — imposes real harm on the speaker.”

Photo: top, Idaho Statehouse, Credit: Public Domain