Committee hears bill to define gender as ‘male’ or ‘female’ in Century Code

At a House Human Services Committee hearing, Representative Olsen presented House Bill 1181, which would add a statutory definition of gender in the North Dakota Century Code as the sex determined at birth and provide DNA as the tiebreaker if gender, gender identity, or gender expression are contested.

The bill’s sponsor told the committee the measure would apply to "policies, forms, and various materials used by any entity receiving state funding, including public schools and institutions of higher education," and quoted a presidential remark to argue the change would align state language with recent federal statements. Representative Olsen said the bill contains no penalty provisions and, if DNA testing were required in a dispute, "I would expect it would be the person whose DNA is being tested" who would bear the cost.

Proponents said the bill promotes what they called clarity and consistent data collection. Jacob Thompson, policy analyst for North Dakota Family Alliance Legislative Action, urged a “due pass.” Lanny Kenner, a Bismarck resident, told the committee, "DNA testing definitely does give you the gender. Use DNA testing all the time."

Opponents stressed potential harms and gaps in the bill. Grace Reap, a delegate to the North Dakota Student Association, said the measure would "fail to recognize" intersex people and "will have severe detrimental mental health effects" on transgender students; she cited a UCLA Williams Institute estimate that 0.4 percent of North Dakota adults are transgender (about 2,500 people). Reap and others also warned that the bill’s DNA-testing language and requirements for agencies to change forms and materials could carry unaddressed costs for campuses and state agencies.

Committee members asked how the proposal would interact with existing federal law and whether a federal mandate exists; Representative Olsen responded that there was not a federal requirement and that the sponsor was not seeking to comply with a federal mandate. Members also queried enforcement and fiscal impacts; the sponsor and witnesses told the committee a fiscal note was difficult to assess and that the bill, as written, does not specify penalties for noncompliance.

The hearing record shows members raised questions about how the bill would treat intersex people and whether statutory changes would have broad effects across other Century Code sections that reference gender or sex. The committee closed the hearing on House Bill 1181 after receiving online and in-person testimony and recessed; no vote was recorded during the hearing.

The bill remains at the hearing stage; future committee action or amendments could address the enforcement, fiscal, and intersex-related concerns raised by witnesses and members.