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North Dakota Gov. Armstrong signed HB1181 defining gender in state law as biological sex

North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong signed House Bill 1181 into law on April 23, 2025, amending the North Dakota Century Code to define "gender" as a person's biological sex throughout state statute. The law governs how state-funded institutions, including public schools and state agencies, record and treat sex and gender on official forms and documents. The bill passed the North Dakota House 74-13, the Senate as amended 41-6, and cleared final House concurrence 79-11 before reaching the governor's desk.

Jurisdiction
North Dakota
Location
Bismarck, North Dakota

Abuses documented

Actors

On April 23, 2025, North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong signed House Bill 1181, amending section 1-01-34 of the North Dakota Century Code to define "gender" throughout state law as a person's biological sex. The law directs state-funded institutions, including public schools and state agencies, to treat sex and gender on official forms and records according to that definition rather than gender identity.

The bill passed the North Dakota House of Representatives 74-13 on February 20, 2025, and the Senate, as amended, 41-6 on April 10, 2025. The House concurred with the Senate's amendments 79-11 on April 17, 2025, sending the bill to Armstrong for signature. Sponsors, led by Rep. SuAnn Olson, cited alignment with a Trump administration executive order on sex recognition; opponents argued the law would exclude transgender and nonbinary North Dakotans from official recognition and could affect access to accurate identity documents and school records. More than three-quarters of the public testimony submitted on the bill opposed it.

Why we recorded this

Equal treatment under the law means government records and institutions should not redefine a person's identity in ways that exclude how transgender and nonbinary residents understand themselves. North Dakota's HB1181 writes a biological-sex-only definition of "gender" into state statute, governing how public schools and state agencies treat sex and gender on official forms and records. This archive records government policy that narrows recognition of a protected characteristic across state institutions.

Sources

  1. HB 1181 — Bill Overview, North Dakota Legislative Branch — North Dakota Legislative Branch primary accessed July 13, 2026
  2. North Dakota HB1181 (2025) - bill history and status — LegiScan secondary accessed July 13, 2026
  3. North Dakota House passes bill to define gender as a person's biological sex — InForum investigative accessed July 13, 2026

See also