Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 239, requiring parental opt-in permission before schools may teach any content on sexual orientation or gender identity

On March 31, 2025, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 239, which prohibits public schools and public charter schools from providing any instruction addressing "human sexuality" unless a parent or legal guardian first submits advance signed written permission for the student to participate. The measure converts the state's prior notification framework into an affirmative opt-in mandate, so that a student may not receive covered instruction absent an affirmatively returned permission form. The bill was delivered to the Governor on March 28 and signed three days later, taking effect as Session Law Chapter 234 on July 1, 2025.

House Bill 239 defines "human sexuality" expansively to include sexual orientation, gender identity, gender ideology, and gender conversion, sweeping instruction that acknowledges LGBTQ people into the categories requiring prior parental permission. The law also establishes a private right of action: a parent or guardian may sue a school district for $250 in statutory damages, plus any actual damages, for each violation. The combination of an opt-in permission requirement and a per-violation damages remedy places districts at financial risk for classroom content touching on sexual orientation or gender identity.

By singling out instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity for restrictions that do not apply to other curricular subjects, and by attaching a statutory-damages lawsuit to any lapse, the law is structured to discourage schools from offering LGBTQ-inclusive material. The bill was one of a cluster of measures advanced in Idaho's 2025 legislative session that tracked model anti-LGBTQ legislation, and was catalogued among them by civil-liberties organizations monitoring the session.