Brad Little
Brad Little is the Governor of Idaho, in office since January 2019 and re-elected in 2022. The entries naming him record his signature on bills passed by the Idaho Legislature, including measures on bathroom access, public display of flags, and reporting requirements placed on schools and physicians. As with other governors in the record, he appears as the signing authority; the corresponding bills are also recorded against the legislature that passed them.
2026 Events (3)
Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 822 requiring schools and doctors to report minors' social transitions to parents
On April 10, 2026, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 822, the "Pediatric Secretive Transitions Parental Rights Act," which requires schools, healthcare providers, and childcare entities to notify a minor's parents within three days of any request by the minor to use a different name, pronouns, restroom, or sports team consistent with a gender identity different from their biological sex, and bars those entities from facilitating a social transition without written parental consent. Violations carry civil fines of up to $100,000 enforced by the attorney general, along with exposure to damages and adverse licensure action. The law took effect July 1, 2026.
Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 561, fining cities $2,000 a day for displaying an LGBTQ+ pride flag on government property
On March 31, 2026, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 561, which restricts flags on state and local government property to a pre-approved list and authorizes $2,000-per-day fines, enforced by the attorney general, against cities that display non-approved flags. The bill's House sponsor acknowledged the measure was aimed at Boise, which had flown an LGBTQ+ pride flag at City Hall. The city removed the flag at noon the same day, minutes after the signing.
Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 752, nation's strictest criminal transgender bathroom ban
On March 30, 2026, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 752, making Idaho the first state with a criminal bathroom ban extending to private businesses and imposing the steepest penalties nationally. The law makes it a misdemeanor (up to one year in prison) and repeat felony (up to five years) to use bathrooms not matching one's "biological sex" in any government or private facility open to the public. On June 16, 2026, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement, finding the law likely unconstitutional due to vagueness.
2025 Events (10)
Idaho enacted SB 1198 banning DEI programs, offices, and diversity training at public colleges and universities
On April 4, 2025, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed Senate Bill 1198 into law, banning diversity, equity, and inclusion offices, programs, mandatory diversity training, and diversity statements at all public colleges and universities in the state. The law, which took effect July 1, 2025, created a private right of action allowing students and faculty to sue institutions over alleged violations and expanded the Idaho Attorney General's authority to enforce it. Advocates said the measure eliminated programming that served LGBTQ+ and other marginalized students.
Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 480 barring behavioral-health funds for DEI and transgender programming
On April 4, 2025, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 480, the fiscal-year 2025-2026 appropriation for the Department of Health and Welfare's Division of Behavioral Health. Section 5 of the law bars the division from using appropriated funds for training or programming that advances "diversity, equity, and inclusion; critical race theory; or transgender ideology," or that distributes or restricts funding based on race or gender. The restriction took effect July 1, 2025.
Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 96, barring most non-approved flags — including LGBTQ+ pride flags — from government property
On April 3, 2025, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 96, which limits the flags that state and local government entities may display to an enumerated list — the U.S. flag, official state and municipal flags, U.S. military branch flags, Native American tribal flags, the POW/MIA flag, school flags, and foreign flags for special occasions — effectively barring LGBTQ+ pride flags from government property. The bill carried an emergency clause and took effect immediately on signing. Sponsors said the measure was meant to keep government entities from flying "flags of political causes," and legislators circulated fliers showing the pride flag at Boise City Hall before the votes.
Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 264, restricting prison, shelter, and public-college facilities to one biological sex to bar transgender people
Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 264 on April 1, 2025, requiring correctional facilities, juvenile correctional centers, domestic-violence shelters, and state public colleges and universities to designate multi-occupancy restrooms, changing rooms, and sleeping quarters for the exclusive use of one biological sex, defined by statute rather than gender identity. The law creates a private civil cause of action — declaratory and injunctive relief plus attorney fees — for anyone who encounters a person of the opposite biological sex in a designated facility, and its framework functionally requires housing transgender inmates by birth sex. It took effect as Session Law Chapter 251 on July 1, 2025.
Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 352 banning K-12 classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity
On March 31, 2025, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 352 into law, adding a provision that prohibits public-school classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through grade 12. Enacted as Session Law Chapter 223, the measure also expanded parental-rights provisions including records access, opt-outs, notification requirements, and a private cause of action. Its instructional restriction took effect July 1, 2025.
Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 239, requiring parental opt-in permission before schools may teach any content on sexual orientation or gender identity
Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 239 on March 31, 2025, barring public schools from providing any instruction on "human sexuality" unless a parent or legal guardian submits advance signed written permission. The law defines "human sexuality" to include sexual orientation, gender identity, gender ideology, and gender conversion, and creates a private right of action allowing parents to sue districts for $250 in statutory damages plus actual damages per violation. It took effect as Session Law Chapter 234 on July 1, 2025.
Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 270 expanding the indecent-exposure law in a change advocates say targets transgender people
Idaho Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 270 into law on March 26, 2025, taking effect immediately as Session Law Chapter 173. The measure amended the state's indecent-exposure statute to broaden the definition of prohibited exposure — including exposure of the female breast — a change that LGBTQ+ advocates identified as targeting transgender people, particularly transgender women. The bill cleared the Idaho House 59-8 and the Senate 28-6 before enactment.
Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 345 barring Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming care for transgender residents
Idaho Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 345, the Medicaid Reform and Cost Containment Act, into law on March 19, 2025, taking effect immediately as Session Law Chapter 118. Alongside its Medicaid managed-care and work-requirement provisions, the law prohibits the state's Medicaid program from covering gender-transition surgeries or hormone treatments for both minors and adults, extending Idaho's existing ban on public funding for gender-affirming care. The bill passed the Idaho House 61-9 and the Senate 29-6.
Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 59, the Medical Ethics Defense Act, letting providers refuse care on conscience grounds
On March 19, 2025, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 59, the "Medical Ethics Defense Act," which gives health care providers and institutions a right of conscience to refuse to participate in or pay for nonemergency medical procedures, treatments, or services that violate their religious, moral, or ethical beliefs. The measure passed the Legislature on party lines and took immediate effect through an emergency clause. Reporting and opponents, including Planned Parenthood, warned the exemption could be used to deny care to LGBTQ+ patients and to refuse gender-affirming services, with no standard separating a conscience objection from discrimination.
Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 41, restricting public schools to an approved list of flags and banners and barring LGBTQ+ pride flags from classrooms
On March 19, 2025, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 41, which restricts the flags and banners that may be displayed in Idaho public schools to an enumerated list and prohibits the display of any flag or banner representing a political, religious, or ideological viewpoint. The law, effective July 1, 2025, is catalogued by the Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation Tracker as a "Pride Flag Ban" because its viewpoint-based language operates to bar LGBTQ+ pride flags from classrooms.
2024 Events (6)
Idaho Gov. Little signed library-restriction law defining 'homosexuality' as harmful to minors
On April 10, 2024, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed H0710, the "Children's School and Library Protection Act," creating a private cause of action against public and school libraries that fail to relocate materials deemed "harmful to minors" to adults-only sections within 60 days of a complaint. The "harmful to minors" standard the law enforces is defined in Idaho Code to include "homosexuality" as sexual conduct. The law took effect July 1, 2024.
Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 421, defining sex and gender as binary biological categories across state code
Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 421 on April 9, 2024, inserting binary biology-based definitions of "sex," "male," "female," and "gender" into Idaho Code section 73-114, the general statutory-terms section that applies by default across all state statutes unless a specific law defines otherwise. The law declares there are "two, and only two, sexes," fixes sex at conception or birth rather than self-identification, defines "gender" as a synonym for biological sex that explicitly excludes gender identity, and amends Idaho's birth-certificate, vulnerable-child, and school changing-facility statutes to point to the new definition. It passed the House 54-14 and the Senate 26-8 and took effect as Session Law Chapter 322 on July 1, 2024.
Idaho Gov. Little signed H0538 barring compelled use of preferred pronouns for government employees and students
On April 8, 2024, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 538 into law, enacting Idaho Code section 67-5909B after the Legislature passed it earlier that session. The law bars adverse action against government employees and public-school students who decline to use a name, title, or pronoun inconsistent with a person's biological sex, prohibits school and higher-education staff from addressing an unemancipated minor by an affirmed name or pronoun without written parental permission, and creates a private cause of action for violations. It took effect July 1, 2024, as Session Law Chapter 314.
Idaho Gov. Little signed H0668, barring public funds and Medicaid coverage for gender-transition care
On March 27, 2024, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 668 into law after the Legislature passed it, prohibiting the use of state, county, and local public funds for gender-transition procedures for minors and adults and barring Idaho Medicaid from covering such care. The law also bars publicly employed physicians from providing the care in the scope of employment and forbids use of state property to provide it. It took effect July 1, 2024, as Session Law Chapter 209.
Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 578 shielding faith-based adoption and foster agencies that refuse service
On March 25, 2024, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 578, enacting Idaho Code section 16-1648 to bar the state and its subdivisions from taking discriminatory action against adoption or foster-care agencies or individuals who decline to provide a service based on a sincerely held religious belief. The law, effective July 1, 2024, created a private right of action with damages and attorney's fees against the state. Committee testimony warned the shield could enable discrimination against prospective foster and adoptive parents based on sexual orientation.
Idaho Gov. Little signed law shielding counselors' belief-based service refusals from licensing discipline
On March 21, 2024, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed Senate Bill 1352, enacting Idaho Code section 54-3416, which lets licensed counselors and marriage-and-family therapists decline to provide counseling that supports goals, outcomes, or behaviors conflicting with their sincerely held religious, moral, or ethical principles. The law immunizes such refusals from civil suit, criminal prosecution, and professional-licensing-board discipline. It passed the Senate 23-11 and the House 59-10, became Session Law Chapter 152, and took effect July 1, 2024.
2023 Events (3)
Idaho Gov. Little signed law criminalizing gender-affirming care for transgender minors
On April 4, 2023, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 71, the "Vulnerable Child Protection Act," making it a felony punishable by up to ten years in prison for a medical provider to give puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or gender-transition surgery to a person under 18 to affirm a gender identity differing from their birth sex. The law, codified as Idaho Code section 18-1506C, carved out narrow exceptions for intersex conditions and complications of prior treatment and took effect January 1, 2024, as Session Law Chapter 292.
Idaho Gov. Little signed SB 1016, barring localities from requiring gender-neutral facilities in public-works contracts
On March 27, 2023, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed Senate Bill 1016, amending Idaho's procurement law to bar public entities and political subdivisions from requiring public-works contractors to provide multiple-occupancy restroom, shower, or changing-room access on any basis other than sex, defined by birth certificate and excluding gender identity. The law forecloses state and local governments from writing inclusive-facility requirements into publicly funded construction contracts.
Idaho Gov. Little signed SB 1100, barring transgender students from K-12 school facilities matching their gender identity
On March 22, 2023, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed Senate Bill 1100, requiring every K-12 public school restroom, changing facility, and overnight sleeping quarters to be reserved for a single sex defined by birth anatomy and excluding gender identity. The law bars transgender students from facilities matching their gender identity, offers only a written-request accommodation to separate single-occupancy spaces, and lets students sue schools for $5,000 in statutory damages per violation.
2020 Events (2)
Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed HB 509, barring transgender residents from correcting birth-certificate sex markers
On March 30, 2020, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 509 into law, adding Idaho Code 39-245A and requiring birth certificates to record sex as an immutable, biology-based category fixed at conception. The law forecloses amending a birth certificate's sex field based on gender identity, permitting correction only within one year via a notarized affidavit attesting the original entry misstated a fact at birth, or afterward only through a court finding of fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact. It passed the Idaho House 53-16-1 and Senate 27-6-2 and took effect July 1, 2020, as Session Law Chapter 334.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed H0500, the nation's first law barring transgender athletes from women's sports
On March 30, 2020, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 500, the "Fairness in Women's Sports Act," into law as the first law of its kind in the nation. The act requires K-12 and college athletic teams designated "female," "women's," or "girls'" to be limited to students whose sex assigned at birth is female, barring transgender girls and women from competing on those teams. It passed the Idaho House 52-17-1 and Senate 24-11-0 before being signed into law.