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2023

77 entries from 2023.

December(1)

President Biden signed the FY2024 NDAA, codifying DoD's facially neutral 'approved flags' policy that excludes the Pride flag

On December 22, 2023, President Biden signed H.R. 2670, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, into law as Public Law 118-31. Section 1052 of the law prohibits display of any flag other than an enumerated "approved flag" list in Department of Defense workplaces and public areas; the Pride flag is not among the categories on that list, codifying the exclusionary policy the Pentagon adopted under a 2020 Esper memo. An explicit provision banning Pride flag displays, passed by the House, was removed during conference negotiations, leaving only the facially neutral approved-flags list in the enacted law.

October(1)

North Carolina enacted SB452, barring transgender girls from girls' school sports and adding state enforcement of the ban

On October 3, 2023, North Carolina enacted Senate Bill 452 (Session Law 2023-133), an omnibus insurance bill amended late in the session to rewrite the state's high school athletics statute. The law requires K-12 interscholastic and intramural teams to be designated by "biological sex," bars students of "the male sex" from female teams, and defines sex by reproductive biology and genetics at birth, excluding transgender girls from girls' school sports. It also directs the State Board of Education to monitor schools for compliance and report violators to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee.

August(4)

North Carolina overrode Cooper's veto to enact S49, restricting K-4 gender-identity instruction and mandating parental notice of pronoun changes

On August 16, 2023, the North Carolina General Assembly voted along party lines to override Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of Senate Bill 49, the "Parents' Bill of Rights," enacting it as Session Law 2023-106. The law bars instruction on gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality in kindergarten-through-fourth-grade classrooms and requires school personnel to notify a parent before any change in the name or pronoun used for a student.

North Carolina legislature overrode Cooper's veto to enact H808 banning gender-affirming care for minors

On August 16, 2023, North Carolina's Republican-led General Assembly overrode Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of House Bill 808, enacting Session Law 2023-111. The law prohibits medical professionals from initiating puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, or surgical gender-transition procedures for anyone under 18 not already receiving such care as of August 1, 2023. The House completed its override 73-46 and the Senate 27-18, both clearing the required three-fifths margin.

North Carolina legislature overrode Gov. Cooper's veto to enact H574 transgender sports ban

On August 16, 2023, the North Carolina House of Representatives (74-45) and Senate (27-18) voted to override Governor Roy Cooper's veto of House Bill 574, the "Fairness in Women's Sports Act," enacting it as Session Law 2023-109. The law bars students whose sex was recorded male at birth from female and women's middle-school, high-school, and collegiate athletic teams, defines sex by reproductive biology at birth, and creates civil causes of action, effective for the 2023-2024 school year.

Marion Police Department raided Marion County Record newsroom and homes of its publisher and a former city council member

On August 11, 2023, Marion, Kansas police under Chief Gideon Cody raided the offices of the Marion County Record and the homes of publisher Eric Meyer and former city council member Ruth Herbel, seizing computers, cellphones and reporting materials. Cody said he was investigating whether the paper had committed identity theft by checking a local restaurant owner's state driving record, which special prosecutors later found was accessible to the public without falsifying identity. Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey withdrew the search warrants five days later, saying insufficient evidence tied the alleged crime to what was searched and seized.

July(2)

Louisiana Legislature overrode Gov. Edwards' veto to enact HB648, banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors

On July 18, 2023, the Louisiana Legislature overrode Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards's veto of HB648, enacting Act 466, a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The House voted 76-23 and the Senate 28-11 to override, both exceeding the two-thirds threshold. The law bars anyone under 18 from receiving gender-affirming surgery, puberty-blocking medication, or hormone treatment and revokes for at least two years the license of any health professional who provides such care, effective January 1, 2024.

Polk County Attorney Greg Widseth's office misstated drug-conspiracy law to jury in fentanyl trial

During Mohamed Abdulgani Ahmed's July 2023 trial on fentanyl-trafficking charges, Polk County Attorney Greg Widseth's office told jurors in closing argument that they did not need to find Ahmed knew the conspiracy involved drug quantities above the statutory first-degree threshold -- a misstatement of Minnesota conspiracy law. The jury convicted Ahmed on six counts, including first-degree conspiracy and sale, on July 12, 2023, in what was described as the largest fentanyl seizure in Polk County history. The error is part of a two-decade pattern of legally aggressive charging by Widseth, who has run unopposed in every county-attorney election since 2002.

June(7)

Texas Gov. Abbott signed SB 12 restricting drag and other "sexually oriented performances" on public property and before minors

On June 18, 2023, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 12 into law, restricting "sexually oriented performances" on the premises of a commercial enterprise, on public property, or in the presence of an individual younger than 18. The law, authored by Sen. Bryan Hughes, creates a criminal offense for performers and authorizes civil penalties of up to $10,000 against businesses; though its text does not name drag, its sponsors and Abbott described it as targeting drag performances. It took effect only in 2026, after years of litigation in which it was initially struck down as unconstitutional.

Texas Gov. Abbott signed SB 15 barring transgender college athletes from competing under their gender identity

On June 18, 2023, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 15, the "Save Women's Sports Act," requiring students at public institutions of higher education to compete in intercollegiate athletics based on their biological sex assigned at birth. The law bars transgender college athletes from competing consistent with their gender identity and extends a 2021 Texas law that had already imposed the same restriction on K-12 student-athletes. It took effect September 1, 2023.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed SB 17, banning diversity, equity, and inclusion offices at public colleges and universities

On June 17, 2023, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 17, enacted by the 88th Legislature and authored by state Sen. Brandon Creighton, barring public colleges and universities from maintaining diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices, mandating DEI training, or requiring diversity statements in hiring and admissions decisions. The law, which took effect January 1, 2024, tasks the Texas State Auditor with compliance enforcement and puts noncompliant institutions at risk of losing eligibility for state funding increases. Ahead of the deadline, universities closed DEI and related offices, including multicultural and LGBTQ+ resource centers.

Texas Gov. Abbott signed HB 900, requiring vendors to rate and pull sexually explicit books from public school libraries

On June 12, 2023, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 900, the READER Act, into law at a Texas Capitol bill-signing ceremony. The law requires book vendors, as a condition of selling to Texas public schools, to rate the titles they sell for sexual content and to recall any rated "sexually explicit," which must then be removed from school library shelves, while books rated "sexually relevant" require written parental consent to check out. The Texas Education Agency was given authority to overrule a vendor's ratings, and vendors that refuse to comply are barred from selling to Texas schools.

Missouri enacted SB39 barring transgender students from K-12 and college sports by birth-certificate sex

On June 7, 2023, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed Senate Bill 39 (Senate Substitute No. 2), enacting Section 163.048 RSMo to bar any student from competing in an athletics competition designated for the biological sex opposite to the sex on their official birth certificate, at both K-12 and postsecondary institutions. Private schools, public school districts, public charter schools, and public or private colleges that violate the law lose all state aid. The provisions took effect August 28, 2023, and are set to expire August 28, 2027.

Missouri Gov. Parson signed SB 49 SAFE Act banning gender-affirming care for minors and Medicaid coverage

On June 7, 2023, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed Senate Bill 49, the "Missouri Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act," barring health care providers from performing gender-transition surgeries on minors and, until Aug. 28, 2027, from prescribing cross-sex hormones or puberty blockers to minors for gender transition. The law also bars the state's MO HealthNet (Medicaid) program from covering gender-transition care for transgender people of any age and prohibits such surgeries in state prisons and jails. Passed by the Republican-controlled Missouri General Assembly, it took effect Aug. 28, 2023, with narrow carve-outs and grandfathering for minors already in treatment.

Texas Gov. Abbott signed SB 14 banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors

On June 2, 2023, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 14, prohibiting physicians from providing puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or transition surgery to transgender minors and barring the use of public money to pay for such care. The law, which took effect September 1, 2023, required minors already in treatment to be weaned off it and directed the state to revoke the licenses of providers who continued the care. Texas became the most populous state to enact such a ban.

May(24)

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed HB261, extending the state's transgender sports ban to public colleges

On May 30, 2023, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed HB261 into law, amending Section 16-1-52 of the Code of Alabama to bar transgender women and girls from athletic teams designated for females at public two- and four-year colleges and universities. The law extended the state's existing K-12 transgender sports ban to higher education and added provisions shielding institutions that comply and students who report violations.

Iowa enacted SF496, barring K-6 gender-identity and sexual-orientation instruction and requiring parental notification of students' gender requests

On May 26, 2023, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 496, an omnibus education law passed by the 90th General Assembly on party lines. The law bars instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through sixth grade, requires school employees to notify parents when a student asks to be addressed by a different name or pronouns, and requires removal of library books depicting sex acts. Republicans framed it as expanding parental rights; LGBTQ-rights groups, educators, and Democrats said it targeted and endangered transgender and LGBTQ students.

Oklahoma Gov. Stitt signed SB26, adding funding-cut and civil-liability penalties to the school transgender bathroom ban

On May 25, 2023, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed Senate Bill 26 into law, amending the state's 2022 school-facilities law (SB615) to define "sex" by original birth certificate and add new enforcement mechanisms. The law authorizes a 5% cut in state funding for a noncompliant public school district or charter school and creates a private cause of action allowing a parent or guardian to sue a district over noncompliance. SB26 passed the Senate 46-0 and the House 86-0 before Stitt approved it with an emergency clause and a July 1, 2023 effective date.

Tennessee Gov. Lee signed SB1440 defining 'sex' as immutable at birth, ending gender-marker updates on state IDs

On May 24, 2023, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed SB1440 (Public Chapter 486) into law, adding a statutory definition of "sex" as "a person's immutable biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth" throughout Tennessee code. The measure had passed the Senate 27-6 and the House 71-21. Citing the new definition, the Tennessee Department of Safety stopped updating gender markers on driver's licenses for transgender residents.

Montana Gov. Gianforte signed HB 359 banning drag story hours and restricting drag performances before minors

On May 22, 2023, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed House Bill 359 into law, banning "drag story hours" at state-funded schools and libraries and restricting "sexually oriented performances" in front of minors on public property or at businesses. The law defines a covered drag performer by a "flamboyant or parodic" persona and "glamorous or exaggerated costumes and makeup," and imposes an outright ban at any location receiving state funding. It was sponsored by Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, and heavily amended before passage.

Nebraska Gov. Pillen signed LB574, restricting gender-affirming care for minors under 19

On May 22, 2023, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen signed LB574, a bill barring anyone under 19 from receiving gender-altering surgery and authorizing the state's chief medical officer to restrict minors' access to puberty blockers and hormone therapy, effective October 1, 2023. The Nebraska Legislature had passed the measure 33-15 on May 19, 2023, bundling the "Let Them Grow Act" with a separate 12-week abortion ban that took effect immediately. The gender-affirming-care provisions singled out transgender minors for exclusion from medical treatments otherwise available to their peers.

Montana Gov. Gianforte signed SB 458 defining sex as binary, eliminating legal recognition of transgender and intersex residents

On May 20, 2023, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 458 into law, inserting binary, reproduction-based definitions of "male," "female," and "sex" into roughly 40 sections of state code. The statute defines sex strictly by chromosomes and gamete production "under normal development," eliminating legal recognition of transgender, nonbinary, and many intersex Montanans on documents such as birth certificates and driver's licenses. The bill, drafted in part by the Montana Family Foundation, passed the Legislature largely along party lines.

Montana Gov. Gianforte signed SB518, requiring parental permission for affirming pronouns and enabling forced outing of trans students

On May 19, 2023, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 518, a "parental rights" measure requiring school personnel to obtain written parental permission before using a name or pronoun for a student that does not align with the student's sex. The law also protects staff who refuse to use a student's affirmed pronouns and bars schools from withholding information about a child's health, including gender-identity information, from parents. Advocates warned the measure enables schools to out transgender and non-binary students to their families without the student's consent.

Florida Gov. DeSantis signed HB 1521 restricting facility access to birth sex and mandating birth-sex prison placement

On May 17, 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 1521, the "Facility Requirements Based on Sex" act, requiring restrooms and changing facilities in schools, colleges, and government buildings to be designated for exclusive use by a person's sex assigned at birth. The law makes willful entry into a facility for the opposite sex, plus refusal to leave when asked, a criminal trespass, and requires domestic-violence shelters and correctional facilities to house people by birth sex rather than gender identity. Enacted as Chapter 2023-106, it took effect July 1, 2023.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 1069, extending classroom gender-identity restrictions through grade 8 and mandating sex-based pronoun rules

On May 17, 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed CS/CS/HB 1069 into law, expanding the state's 2022 "Parental Rights in Education" law by extending its restriction on classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity from grades K-3 through grade 8. The law defines sex in the state education code as an immutable biological trait, bars teachers and school employees from providing students their preferred pronouns or titles when inconsistent with their sex, and prohibits requiring students or staff to use pronouns that do not correspond to a person's sex. It also broadened the process for challenging school library and instructional materials.

Florida Gov. DeSantis signed SB 254 banning gender-affirming care for minors and letting courts seize custody over such care

On May 17, 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed CS/SB 254, "Treatments for Sex Reassignment" (Chapter 2023-90), prohibiting gender-affirming prescriptions and procedures for patients under 18 and barring public entities from spending state funds on such care. The law also grants Florida courts temporary emergency jurisdiction over a child present in the state who has been or may be subjected to such care, and defines being subjected to it as "serious physical harm" for child-custody enforcement. DeSantis signed the measure alongside related bills at a ceremony at a Tampa evangelical school.

Florida Gov. DeSantis signed SB 1438 restricting minors' access to drag and 'adult live' performances

On May 17, 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 1438, the "Protection of Children" act, creating criminal penalties and business-licensing sanctions for admitting minors to "adult live performances." Though facially neutral, the law was framed and widely understood as targeting drag performances and LGBTQ+ expression, and Orlando's Hamburger Mary's sued within days. DeSantis signed the measure at a Christian school in Tampa during the 2023 regular legislative session.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed SB0466, shielding public-school employees who refuse transgender students' pronouns

On May 17, 2023, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed SB0466 into law as Public Chapter 448, specifying that a teacher or other public-school employee is not required to refer to a student by a preferred pronoun inconsistent with the student's sex assigned at birth. The law insulates employees from civil liability and adverse employment action for instead using the pronoun consistent with that biological sex, taking effect immediately on signing.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed SB1443/HB727 requiring parental opt-in consent for LGBTQ curriculum and school club membership

On May 17, 2023, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed SB1443/HB727 into law as Public Chapter 353, after the Senate passed it 25-5 and the House 74-24. The law requires a student's parent or guardian (or the student, if 18 or older) to give written opt-in consent before the student receives instruction of a "sexual orientation curriculum or gender identity curriculum," and separately bars any minor from joining or participating in any school club without prior dated, written parental consent. The club-consent provision, added by floor amendment, functions as a forced-outing mechanism for students who wish to join LGBTQ-support clubs such as Gender-Sexuality Alliances.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed medical-conscience law excluding LGBTQ+ patients from anti-discrimination protections

On May 11, 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed CS/SB 1580, the "Protections of Medical Conscience" Act, at a news conference in Destin, Florida, giving health care providers and payors a right to opt out of any health care service on the basis of a conscience-based religious, moral, or ethical objection. The law's anti-discrimination clause bars providers from refusing care based on a patient's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin but omits sexual orientation and gender identity. It took effect July 1, 2023, as Chapter 2023-57.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signed HB1474, codifying a binary "sex" definition that bars LGBTQ+ discrimination claims

On May 8, 2023, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum signed House Bill 1474, which the state's 68th Legislative Assembly passed to amend the North Dakota Century Code's master definitions section with binary statutory definitions of "female," "male," and "sex." The law defines sex by "nonambiguous sex organs, chromosomes, or endogenous hormone profiles at birth" and conforms four other 2023 bills to the same wording. Advocates said the definitions bar sexual-orientation and gender-identity discrimination claims in employment, housing, and public accommodations.

North Dakota enacted HB 1522 restricting transgender students' restroom use and barring schools from concealing their status from parents

On May 8, 2023, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signed House Bill 1522, which requires public school boards to prohibit students from using restrooms that do not coincide with their "biological sex," allowing separate accommodations only with parental approval. The law also bars schools and teachers from adopting policy on a student's transgender status or withholding that status from the student's parents, and prohibits government entities from requiring or forbidding employees' use of colleagues' preferred pronouns. The measure passed the Legislative Assembly with an emergency clause and took effect immediately.

North Dakota Gov. Burgum signed HB1297, barring transgender residents from changing birth-certificate gender markers

On May 8, 2023, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum signed HB1297, enacted by the state's 68th Legislative Assembly, prohibiting amendment of the sex designation on a birth record "due to a gender identity change." The law permits corrections only for scrivener errors, chromosomal or genetic testing showing an error, or a certified anatomical change, and statutorily defines "sex" as the biological state at birth. It was one of three anti-LGBTQ+ measures Burgum signed the same period targeting transgender North Dakotans.

Indiana enacted HB 1447, barring 'obscene' materials from school libraries and stripping educators' 'harmful to minors' defense

On May 4, 2023, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb signed House Enrolled Act 1447, which bars public school and charter school libraries from making available materials deemed "obscene" or "harmful to minors" and requires published catalogs and challenge-and-removal procedures. The law also removed the "legitimate educational purpose" affirmative defense that had shielded schools and their employees from Level 6 felony prosecution for disseminating material "harmful to minors." The library-restriction language, originally a stalled standalone bill, was inserted through a closed-door conference committee without public testimony.

Indiana Gov. Holcomb signed HB 1608, barring K-3 instruction on human sexuality and requiring schools to notify parents of gender-identity requests

On May 4, 2023, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb signed House Enrolled Act 1608 into law, creating a new statute (IC 20-30-17) that bars schools, employees, and third-party vendors from providing any instruction on "human sexuality" to students in prekindergarten through grade 3. A separate provision (IC 20-33-7.5) requires schools to notify a parent in writing within five business days whenever an unemancipated minor student requests to be identified by a different name, pronoun, or title. The bill passed the House 65-29, took effect July 1, 2023, and is codified as Public Law 248-2023.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed SB1237, extending the state's transgender school-sports ban to private schools

On May 4, 2023, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed SB1237 into law as Public Chapter 285, limiting a private-school student's eligibility for interscholastic athletics governed by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association to participation "in accordance with the student's immutable biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth." The law extends to TSSAA-affiliated private schools a transgender-athlete restriction Tennessee already applied to its public schools.

Montana Gov. Gianforte signed HB 303 letting providers refuse gender-affirming care and abortion on moral grounds

On May 3, 2023, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed House Bill 303, the "Medical Ethics and Diversity Act," permitting medical practitioners, institutions, and insurers to refuse to participate in or pay for health services on "ethical, moral, or religious" grounds. Sponsored by Rep. Amy Regier, R-Kalispell, the law names no patient right to obtain care when a provider objects, and its sponsor identified abortion, gender-affirming care, and physician aid in dying among the intended targets. It passed the Republican-majority Legislature largely along party lines.

Indiana Gov. Holcomb signed SB 350, voiding local bans on conversion therapy for minors

On May 1, 2023, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed Senate Enrolled Act 350 into law, barring any Indiana city, town, or county from regulating behavioral health and human-services practitioners licensed or certified under IC 25-23.6. The measure, added as IC 25-23.6-2-8.5, was authored in response to local ordinances in Indianapolis, Bloomington, and elsewhere that had prohibited licensed practitioners from performing conversion therapy on minors, and it voids those bans and bars future local protections. Indiana maintains no statewide ban on the practice.

Oklahoma Gov. Stitt signed SB613, banning gender-affirming medical care for minors

On May 1, 2023, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed SB 613 into law, banning gender-transition surgeries, puberty-blocking medication, and hormone therapy for anyone under 18 and making a violation a felony for health care providers, alongside license revocation and civil liability. The bill carried an emergency clause and took effect immediately on signing, with a limited allowance for minors already receiving treatment to be tapered off. It passed the Oklahoma Legislature 40-8 in the Senate and 73-18 in the House.

April(18)

Montana Gov. Gianforte signed SB99 banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors

On April 28, 2023, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 99, the "Youth Health Protection Act," prohibiting health care providers from offering puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical procedures to transgender minors for the treatment of gender dysphoria. Sponsored by Sen. John Fuller and passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature along party lines, the law threatened providers with license suspension and was scheduled to take effect Oct. 1, 2023.

Kansas Legislature overrode Gov. Kelly's veto to enact HB 2138 school overnight-lodging biological-sex mandate

On April 27, 2023, the Kansas Senate voted 30-9 to override Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of Senate Substitute for HB 2138, completing its enactment a day after the House overrode the veto 85-39. The law requires every school district to adopt a policy providing separate overnight accommodations "for students of each biological sex" during school-sponsored travel, defining "biological sex" by chromosomes, hormones, gonads, and genitalia at birth "without regard to an individual's psychological, chosen or subjective experience of gender." It took effect July 1, 2023, and was published as Chapter 87 of the 2023 Session Laws of Kansas.

Kansas Legislature overrode Gov. Kelly's veto to enact SB180, fixing legal sex to birth biology across facilities and vital records

On April 27, 2023, the Kansas Legislature enacted SB180, the "Women's Bill of Rights," by overriding Gov. Laura Kelly's veto, with the Senate voting 28-12 on April 26 and the House completing the override 84-40 the next day. The law defines "sex," "male," and "female" for all purposes of state law strictly by reproductive biology at birth and directs that this binary definition govern access to sex-segregated facilities and the recording of sex in state vital statistics. It took effect July 1, 2023.

Kansas enacted SB228 mandating that county jails house detainees by biological sex over the governor's veto

On April 26, 2023, the Kansas Legislature overrode Governor Laura Kelly's veto to enact SB228, a county-jail bill that amended K.S.A. 19-1903 to define "sex" as an individual's biological sex at birth and to require sheriffs to keep separate jail spaces for each sex, male and female. The House overrode the veto 87-37 and the Senate 31-9, enacting the measure as 2023 Session Laws Chapter 83. The provision bars transgender and intersex women from female-designated jail housing.

Montana Gov. Gianforte signed HB 361 declaring misgendering of transgender students not discrimination

On April 25, 2023, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed House Bill 361, sponsored by Rep. Brandon Ler, R-Savage, establishing in state law that referring to a fellow student by a sex or name they do not claim — misgendering and deadnaming — is not legally discriminatory behavior. The measure passed the House 66-32 and the Senate 30-20 on party-line votes. Opponents, including LGBTQ+ groups, Democratic legislators, and transgender Montanans, said it legalizes harassment by carving transgender and nonbinary students out of discrimination protections other students keep.

North Dakota Gov. Burgum signed HB 1473, restricting transgender people from restrooms and showers in state prisons and college dormitories

On April 25, 2023, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signed House Bill 1473, enacting new Century Code sections requiring restrooms and shower rooms in state correctional facilities—including the penitentiary and the youth correctional center—and in dormitories controlled by the state board of higher education to be designated for exclusive use by one sex. The law bars transgender inmates and college students from multi-occupancy restrooms and showers that match their gender identity, permitting deviation only as a "reasonable accommodation" at the discretion of facility or dormitory staff.

Indiana Gov. Holcomb signed HB1569, barring state funds for gender-affirming surgery for incarcerated people

On April 20, 2023, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb signed House Enrolled Act 1569 into law, adding Indiana Code 11-10-3-3.5 to bar the Indiana Department of Correction from authorizing state or federal funds to provide or facilitate gender-affirming surgery for incarcerated people, even when recommended by a medical provider. The measure, passed by the Indiana General Assembly, left hormone therapy untouched and took effect July 1, 2023. It did not apply to inmates already approved for surgery before that date.

North Dakota Gov. Burgum signed HB 1254, a felony ban on gender-affirming care for minors

On April 19, 2023, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum signed House Bill 1254, enacting a ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. The law makes it a class B felony for providers to perform gender-affirming surgery on minors and a class A misdemeanor to prescribe puberty blockers or hormone therapy for that purpose. It contains an exception for minors with a medically verifiable intersex condition but none for transgender minors.

Arkansas enacted the Conscience Protection Act, Act 733, shielding religious refusals from state penalties

On April 12, 2023, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed House Bill 1615 into law as Act 733 of the 2023 Regular Session, the "Conscience Protection Act." The law amends Arkansas's Religious Freedom Restoration Act to shift the burden of proof onto government and mandate broad construction favoring religious exercise, and it creates a new subchapter barring state government from adverse action — denying tax exemptions, grants, contracts, licenses, certifications, or employment benefits — against a person, business, or religious organization because of a sincerely held religious belief "including a belief about biological sex or marriage." Supporters framed it as a religious-freedom protection, while LGBTQ+ advocates warned it authorizes identity-based refusals shielded from state consequence.

Arkansas Gov. Sanders signed SB270 (Act 619) criminalizing transgender adults' restroom use under the child sexual-indecency statute

On April 11, 2023, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Senate Bill 270 into law as Act 619, amending the criminal offense of "sexual indecency with a child" to add a Class C misdemeanor for an adult who, to arouse or gratify sexual desire, enters or remains in a public changing facility "assigned to persons of the opposite sex" while knowing a minor of the opposite sex is present. The law defines "sex" as immutable biological sex determined at birth and defines "public changing facility" to include restrooms, locker rooms, and showers, functionally criminalizing transgender adults' use of facilities matching their gender identity when a minor is present. A third offense escalates to a Class D felony.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed the Given Name Act restricting school staff use of trans students' names and pronouns

On April 11, 2023, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed House Bill 1468, the "Given Name Act," into law as Act 542 of 2023. The law bars public-school, charter, and higher-education employees from addressing an unemancipated minor with a pronoun, title, or name inconsistent with the student's biological sex or birth certificate without written parental permission, and creates a private right of action for violations. It also shields employees from adverse action and students from discipline for declining to use a person's preferred name or pronoun.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signed HB 1489, barring transgender women from women's college sports teams

On April 11, 2023, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum signed HB 1489, requiring public and competing private colleges to designate athletic teams as male, female, or coed and barring female-designated teams to students defined as "the male sex" at birth. The measure, passed by the 68th Legislative Assembly (House 75-18, Senate 40-7), excludes transgender women from women's collegiate athletics and creates a private right of action to enforce the separation. Burgum signed it in Bismarck alongside a K-12 companion bill, HB 1249.

North Dakota Gov. Burgum signed HB 1249, barring transgender girls from female K-12 school sports teams

On April 11, 2023, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signed House Bill 1249, enacting Chapter 15.1-39 of the North Dakota Century Code and requiring public and eligible nonpublic K-12 schools to designate athletic teams as male, female, or coed by a birth-based definition of "sex." The law bars students of the male sex — including transgender girls — from female-designated teams, prohibits adverse action against schools that maintain separate female teams, and creates a private civil cause of action with a two-year limit for damages and attorney's fees. The Legislative Assembly passed the measure 78-15 in the House and 38-9 in the Senate.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signed HB1139, defining birth-record sex as biological and fixed at birth

On April 7, 2023, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signed HB1139, amending the state's Health Statistics Act to define "sex" as the biological state of being female or male based on a person's sex organs, chromosomes, and hormone profiles at birth. The law requires every birth record to designate a child as male or female and bars a "not yet determined" entry unless sex is genuinely undeterminable on that biological basis. The measure passed 81-11 in the House and 42-5 in the Senate, codifying a binary conception of sex fixed at birth into North Dakota's vital-records law.

Indiana Gov. Holcomb signed SB 480, banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors statewide

On April 5, 2023, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed Senate Enrolled Act 480, barring physicians and other practitioners from knowingly providing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormone therapy, or gender-transition surgery to anyone under 18, on pain of professional discipline. The law, which added IC 25-1-22 to the state code, carved out exceptions for minors with medically verifiable intersex conditions and for treating complications of prior care, and required minors already on hormone therapy to stop by December 31, 2023. It took effect July 1, 2023.

Kansas legislature overrode veto to enact HB2238 transgender sports ban

On April 5, 2023, the Kansas Legislature overrode Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of HB2238, the "Fairness in Women's Sports Act," enacting a ban on transgender girls and women competing on female athletic teams at public schools and colleges. The House voted 84-40 and the Senate 28-12 to override, both margins along party lines. The law defines team eligibility by biological sex determined at birth and takes effect July 1, 2023.

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.

Huerfano County jail staff denied dying inmate Michael Burch medical care for 8 days after tackle injury; he died in his cell

On March 28, 2023, a Huerfano County, Colorado detention officer tased and tackled 69-year-old inmate Michael Burch, fracturing six ribs and collapsing a lung, and jail staff and the facility's contracted healthcare provider then denied him hospital care despite his repeated pleas over the following eight days. Burch died in his cell at the Huerfano County Detention Center on April 4, 2023, and a coroner ruled the death a homicide.

March(15)

Kentucky enacted SB150 banning gender-affirming care for minors and restricting transgender students

On March 29, 2023, the Kentucky General Assembly overrode Gov. Andy Beshear's veto to enact Senate Bill 150, which bans gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors and restricts transgender students' access to restrooms, school instruction on gender identity, and use of their chosen pronouns. The Senate voted 29-8 and the House 76-23 to override the veto, making Kentucky the twelfth state to ban such care. The law was enrolled as Kentucky Acts Chapter 132.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice signed HB2007, banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors

On March 29, 2023, West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice signed House Bill 2007 into law, prohibiting physicians from providing hormone therapy, puberty blockers, or gender-reassignment surgery to anyone under 18 for the purpose of gender transition. The law included a narrow exception permitting puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors diagnosed with severe gender dysphoria by two providers and assessed to be at risk of self-harm, with parental consent. It was set to take effect in January 2024.

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.

Georgia Gov. Kemp signed SB 140 banning gender-affirming surgery and hormone therapy for minors

On March 23, 2023, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 140, barring licensed facilities and physicians from performing gender-transition surgeries or providing hormone replacement therapy to minors under 18 for gender dysphoria. The law, passed by the Georgia General Assembly, provides narrow exceptions for disorders of sex development and grandfathers in minors already on hormone therapy before July 1, 2023. Violations expose physicians and facilities to discipline by the Georgia Composite Medical Board, including permit revocation.

Utah enacted S.B. 93, adding evidentiary barriers and an age ban to transgender birth-certificate sex changes

On March 23, 2023, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed S.B. 93, "Birth Certificate Modifications," rewriting Utah Code 26-2-11 to impose new limits on court-ordered sex-designation changes. A court may now grant a change only on clear-and-convincing findings that the petitioner is not in litigation or on probation, has expressed the sought sex "in a consistent and uniform manner for at least six months," and suffers clinically significant distress. The law bars any change for a child under 15 years and 6 months and requires a guardian ad litem, at the family's expense, for older minors.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed SF482, barring transgender students from school restrooms matching their gender identity

On March 22, 2023, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 482 into law, enacting Iowa Code sections 216.9A and 280.33 and requiring K-12 public and nonpublic schools to designate restrooms, locker rooms, changing areas, and similar facilities for use only by students of the same "biological sex" as listed on their birth certificate. The law bars transgender students from facilities matching their gender identity and creates a citizen-complaint mechanism routed through the Iowa Attorney General, who may sue a noncompliant school. SF482 passed the Iowa Senate 33-16 and the House 57-39 before reaching the governor's desk.

Iowa Gov. Reynolds signed SF538 banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors

On March 22, 2023, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 538 into law, barring health care professionals from prescribing puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones or performing gender-transition surgeries for minors. The law took effect immediately, with the treatment prohibition applying after a grandfather period and narrow exceptions only for intersex conditions or medical complications; violations are treated as unprofessional conduct subject to licensing discipline and civil suit.

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.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed SB1, banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors

On March 22, 2023, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed Senate Bill 1 (SB0001/HB0001, Public Chapter 1) into law, prohibiting healthcare providers from performing surgery or administering hormones or puberty blockers to a minor for the purpose of enabling the minor to identify with or live as a gender inconsistent with the sex assigned at birth. The law creates private civil causes of action, including wrongful death, against providers and consenting parents, and authorizes the state attorney general to seek injunctions, disgorgement, and $25,000-per-violation civil penalties. The bill passed the Senate 26-6 and the House 77-16 and took effect July 1, 2023.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Act 317, barring transgender students from school restrooms matching their gender identity

On March 21, 2023, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed HB1156 into law as Act 317, requiring K-12 public and open-enrollment charter schools to designate multiple-occupancy restrooms, locker rooms, and changing areas by a student's sex as listed on their original birth certificate. The law bars transgender students from facilities matching their gender identity and imposes minimum $1,000 fines on superintendents, principals, or teachers found noncompliant.

Utah Gov. Cox signed HB209 mandating statewide birth-certificate collection to enforce K-12 transgender-athlete sports ban

On March 17, 2023, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed H.B. 209 into law, adding a provision that requires every athletic association to collect and review a birth certificate or equivalent identifying document from each student athlete as a condition of registration. Chief sponsor Rep. Jordan Teuscher stated the mandate was designed to enforce H.B. 11, Utah's 2022 ban on transgender girls in girls' sports, by letting the state verify each athlete's birth-certificate sex against the sex designation of the interscholastic activity. The law built statewide verification infrastructure that operationalized enforcement of the ban.

Wyoming enacted SF0133, barring transgender students from girls' interscholastic sports in grades 7-12

On March 17, 2023, Wyoming SF0133 became law after Gov. Mark Gordon declined to veto it and allowed it to take effect without his signature. The law prohibits students of the male sex from competing on interscholastic sports teams designated for female students in grades 7 through 12 and establishes an administrative hearing process and an alternative eligibility commission. It took effect July 1, 2023.

Arkansas Gov. Sanders signed SB199 (Act 274) creating special malpractice liability for gender-affirming care providers of minors

On March 13, 2023, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed SB199 into law as Act 274, the Protecting Minors From Medical Malpractice Act of 2023, creating a dedicated civil right of action letting a minor or a representative sue a health care professional who performs a "gender transition procedure." The law exposes those clinicians to compensatory and punitive damages and lets a patient sue for up to 15 years after turning 18, far longer than Arkansas's standard two-year malpractice window. It was sponsored by Sen. Gary Stubblefield and Rep. Mary Bentley and passed both chambers along party lines.

Arkansas Gov. Sanders signed the LEARNS Act barring public-school instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation before grade five

On March 8, 2023, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Senate Bill 294, the LEARNS Act, into law as Act 237 of 2023, a K-12 education omnibus. Section 16 of the enacted Act created Ark. Code § 6-16-157(c), which prohibits public school teachers from providing classroom instruction on "gender identity" or "sexual orientation" to students before the fifth grade. Observers compared the provision to Florida's law that critics call "Don't Say Gay."

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed SB0003, the nation's first law criminalizing drag and adult-cabaret performances

On March 2, 2023, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed SB0003, the "Adult Entertainment Act" (Public Chapter No. 2), the first state law in the nation to criminalize "adult cabaret performance" — defined to include "male or female impersonators" — on public property or anywhere a minor could view it. The measure, sponsored by Sen. Jack Johnson and Rep. Chris Todd, passed the Senate 26-6 and the House 74-19 and took effect April 1, 2023.

February(4)

Mississippi enacted HB1125 banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors and revoking providers' licenses

On February 28, 2023, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed HB1125, the Regulate Experimental Adolescent Procedures (REAP) Act, making Mississippi the seventh state to bar minors from receiving puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or gender-transition surgery. The law, which took effect immediately, strips the medical license of any provider who furnishes such care, blocks public funds and Medicaid from covering it, and lets patients sue providers for up to 30 years. It was passed by the Republican-led Mississippi Legislature over objections from LGBTQ advocates and medical groups.

Arkansas enacted Act 131 restricting 'adult-oriented performances' after narrowing an explicit drag ban

On February 24, 2023, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Senate Bill 43 into law as Act 131, adding a definition of "adult-oriented performance" to state code and barring such performances on public property, with public funds, or where minors are present. As introduced, the bill explicitly defined drag by reference to a performer's gender identity and classified it as a regulated adult-oriented business, but sponsors rewrote it twice to remove all references to drag and gender identity after opposition from LGBTQ advocates and the ACLU of Arkansas. The enacted content-based version reframed the restriction around nudity, prosthetic genitalia, and appeals to the "prurient interest."

Utah enacted S.B. 100, barring schools from changing students' gender-identity records without parental consent

On February 16, 2023, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed S.B. 100, "School Gender Identity Policies," enacting Utah Code 53E-9-205. The law requires schools and local education agencies to ensure no policy shields a student's education record from the parent, and specifically bars any change to a student's education record regarding gender identity that does not conform to the student's sex without written parental consent. Because gender identity is the only record category singled out for this requirement, a school cannot document a student's social transition without parental notification and sign-off.

South Dakota Gov. Noem signed HB1080, banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors

On February 13, 2023, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed HB 1080, the "Help Not Harm" Act, barring health care professionals from providing puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or surgical interventions to transgender minors for the purpose of gender transition. Providers already treating trans minors were required to taper them off medication by December 31, 2023, and violators face license revocation and civil liability. South Dakota became one of the first states in 2023 to enact such a ban.

January(1)

Utah Gov. Cox signed S.B. 16, banning gender-affirming surgery and new hormone treatment for transgender minors

On January 28, 2023, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed Senate Bill 16, the "Transgender Medical Treatments and Procedures Amendments," one of the earliest state gender-affirming-care bans of the 2023 legislative wave. The law prohibits health care providers from performing sex-characteristic surgical procedures on minors and bars them from starting hormonal transgender treatment for any minor not already diagnosed with gender dysphoria before the bill's effective date. Minors already diagnosed and in treatment before that date were permitted to continue.