(ConservativeSense.com) – Republican North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum just signed a new law that will prohibit transgender minors and adults from accessing bathrooms that match the gender they identify as.
On Wednesday, Burgum’s office announced the signing of the bill, which took place on Tuesday, passing the state House and Senate with Republican majorities making a Democratic veto impossible.
Three Republicans voted against the bill when it reached the House. One of them, Rep. Eric Murphy, said he isn’t trying “to be polarizing,” but doesn’t “think there was a need for the legislation.” Murphy is a professor of biomedical sciences at the University of North Dakota and said he thinks there’s no need for legislation to dictate to school officials how to handle the issue.
The bill will make it mandatory for kids and adults in educational as well as correctional facilities to use the restrooms and locker rooms matching their actual gender, male or female.
Most Republicans disagree with Murphy, such as Republican Rep. Jeff Hoverson who supported the law. “Why would you not want a men’s bathroom to be for men and a women’s bathroom to be for women?” he said in an interview after the bill passed.
Just a week ago, Burgum also signed a bill restricting “gender-affirming care” for minors, prohibiting puberty blockers, hormones, and transgender surgeries from being performed on anyone under the age of 18. As expected, every Democrat voted against it and although a few Republicans also voted against it, the bill passed the House and Senate.
And earlier this month, the governor signed a bill banning transgender athletes from competing on sports teams that do not match their biological gender, which also passed the House and Senate with GOP majorities. A federal version of this legislation called the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act just passed the House last week, although it will probably be vetoed in a Democratic-majority Senate and President Joe Biden said he would shoot it down if he makes it to his desk.
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