North Dakota’s HB 1144: The State is Now in the Bathroom Policing Business

Introduction

North Dakota’s HB 1144 is the latest attempt at state-mandated gender policing in public schools. It does three main things:

1. Forces schools to ban transgender students from using restrooms that match their gender identity.
2. Prohibits gender-neutral restrooms and shower spaces.
3. Gives the state attorney general the power to investigate and penalize teachers, schools, and districts that violate this law—including fines of up to $2,500 per incident.

This is not about protecting students—it’s about controlling them. It’s government overreach at its most absurd, and it’s part of a nationwide push to criminalize and marginalize trans youth.

This isn’t policy—it’s a cultural war disguised as legislation.

Published on: 3-05-2025

Tags: Government Overreach, LGBTQ+ Rights, North Dakota Politics, Authoritarianism

Breaking Down HB 1144: What This Bill Actually Does

1. Bans Schools from Respecting Trans Students’ Identities

• Schools are forbidden from having any policy requiring teachers to use a student’s preferred pronouns.
• Teachers can misgender students at will—without consequences.
• Even gender-neutral accommodations must be approved by parents—giving parents control over their child’s identity rather than allowing the student to make their own choices.

What this means:
- Transgender and nonbinary students are forced into a system that actively disrespects them.
- Teachers who want to support trans students are silenced.
- This isn’t about education—it’s about the state deciding how people are allowed to identify.

2. Bathroom & Shower Restrictions: Trans Students Must Use Facilities Based on “Biological Sex”

• Forces transgender students to use bathrooms and showers based on their sex assigned at birth.
• Explicitly bans gender-neutral restrooms that multiple students can use at once.
• Even sinks and common restroom areas must be strictly gender-segregated.

What this means:
- Transgender students are at greater risk of bullying, harassment, and violence.
- Schools that have successfully implemented gender-neutral spaces must now reverse their policies.
- This is a government mandate that schools must enforce, regardless of what works best for their students.

There is no evidence that gender-neutral restrooms cause harm. In fact, schools that implement them see a reduction in bullying and safer environments for all students.

3. Gives the Attorney General the Power to Investigate & Punish Schools

• Parents can file complaints against teachers, administrators, and school boards if they believe their child’s school isn’t enforcing the law.
• The attorney general has the power to investigate and subpoena school officials.
• Schools and teachers can be fined up to $2,500 per “violation.”

What this means:
- Teachers and school staff will be forced to become “gender enforcers” or risk fines and legal action.
- Any school district that refuses to comply with this discriminatory policy could face state prosecution.
- This turns transgender students into legal battlegrounds—putting their lives under state surveillance.**

What’s the Real Goal of This Bill?

This is not about protecting kids—it’s about policing gender and reinforcing a narrow, rigid view of what it means to be male or female.

This bill is designed to:
- Make life harder for transgender students by forcing them into humiliating, uncomfortable, and often unsafe situations.
- Encourage parents to report schools that support LGBTQ+ students.
- Push a culture war narrative that paints transgender identities as a “threat” rather than a reality that thousands of North Dakotans live with.

There is no evidence that allowing trans students to use the bathroom that matches their identity harms anyone. But there is evidence that bills like this increase depression, suicide risk, and school dropout rates among trans youth.

This bill is not a “solution” to any real problem—it’s a state-sanctioned act of cruelty.

Why This Bill is Dangerous

It’s a Direct Government Overreach into Schools & Classrooms

• Conservatives claim to want “small government”—but here they are, micromanaging bathrooms.
• Schools already have policies for handling restroom accommodations on a case-by-case basis. Why does the state need to intervene?
• This is not about local control—this is top-down government interference.

It Encourages Parents to Police & Punish Schools

• Any parent who doesn’t like a school’s LGBTQ+ policies can now weaponize this law to target teachers, administrators, and school boards.
• This bill turns classrooms into battlegrounds where a single complaint can trigger a state investigation.

It Violates Federal Protections for Trans Students

• Title IX explicitly protects trans students from discrimination based on gender identity.
• If this law is enforced, North Dakota could face lawsuits and loss of federal education funding.

Conclusion: North Dakota Needs to Stop Wasting Time on Hate Bills

This bill is not about safety. There is no crisis of trans students causing harm in bathrooms—but there is a crisis of LGBTQ+ youth facing harassment and violence.

This bill is not about protecting kids. It’s about pleasing a political base that wants to erase trans people from public life.

This bill is not about freedom. It’s about government control over identity, education, and personal dignity.

This is not conservative policy. This is not about limited government.

This is a government mandate that polices children’s identities and forces teachers and schools to comply—or be punished.

But one more thing: How Do Airplane Bathrooms Work for Everyone?

• Single-occupancy, gender-neutral restrooms have existed on airplanes since the beginning of commercial flight.
• Everyone—men, women, nonbinary people, transgender people—uses the same small, lockable restroom without issue.
• No reported crises, no widespread discomfort, no safety concerns.

Why Doesn’t This Cause Problems?

• Privacy & Security: Every airplane restroom has a lock, and you don’t interact with others while using it.
• Efficiency: It maximizes space—imagine how inefficient planes would be if they had separate men’s and women’s bathrooms.
• Universal Functionality: Biology doesn’t change the function of a toilet—people of all genders use the same facilities without conflict.

So Why Do Politicians Think School Bathrooms Need More Rules?

If airlines don’t need gender-segregated bathrooms, why does North Dakota’s legislature think schools do?

• The reality is that this isn’t about logistics or safety—it’s about pushing an ideological agenda.
• There’s no public panic about airplane bathrooms, unisex restrooms in homes, or single-stall bathrooms in businesses.
• But when it comes to public schools, lawmakers suddenly pretend this is an urgent crisis.

The "bathroom issue" is a manufactured moral panic. The only difference between an airplane bathroom and a gender-neutral school restroom is whether a politician is trying to make it a wedge issue.

What You Can Do

Call your legislators and demand they vote NO on HB 1144.
Expose this bill for what it is—an attempt to legislate gender conformity at the expense of real kids.
Vote against politicians who prioritize culture wars over real issues.

North Dakota has real problems to solve—this isn’t one of them. Kill this bill.

References:

• ND Legis: HB1140
• MAP Project Bathroom Bans
• School Restroom/Locker Rooms Restrictions and Sexual Assault Risk Among Transgender Youth