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 a new section of the Idaho Code, section 67-5909B, titled "Compulsory gender language prohibited — private cause of action." The Idaho Legislature had passed the measure earlier in the 2024 session, with the House approving it 58-11 and the Senate 25-9. The law was recorded as Session Law Chapter 314 and took effect July 1, 2024.

The statute bars government employers from taking adverse employment action against employees who, within the scope of their official duties, decline to identify their own pronouns or to address a person by a name, title, or pronoun that does not correspond with that person's biological sex. It likewise provides that public-school and public-higher-education students may not be subjected to adverse disciplinary action for declining to state their own pronouns or to use another person's preferred name or pronoun. Separately, it prohibits employees of public schools and public colleges from knowingly and intentionally addressing an unemancipated minor student by a name other than the student's legal name, or by a preferred title or pronoun inconsistent with the student's sex, without the written permission of the student's parent or guardian.

The law creates a private cause of action allowing any person harmed by a violation to seek injunctive relief, monetary damages, and reasonable attorney's fees and costs, with suits required to be filed within two years of the violation. It assigns the Idaho Commission on Human Rights authority to adopt implementing rules. The measure was one of several bills addressing gender identity that advanced in Idaho's 2024 session and was described by supporters as a protection against compelled speech and by opponents, including the ACLU of Idaho, as targeting transgender students and workers.