Bill pushes back on pronouns

BOISE — An Idaho House committee introduced a bill Friday that would prohibit government entities from compelling employers to use people’s preferred pronouns or names.

Rep. Ted Hill, R-Eagle, sponsored the bill, which also says public school employees cannot “knowingly and intentionally address an unemancipated minor student by a name other than the student’s legal name or a derivative of, or by a preferred personal title or pronoun that is inconsistent with the student’s without written permission of the student’s parent or guardian” and would be subject to adverse employment action for failing to comply.

“I shouldn’t be forced to say something I don’t want to say,” Hill told the House State Affairs Committee.

The bill would allow public employees who were subject to reprisals by their employer to sue within two years of the violation.

Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, asked if there were examples of employer reprisals for teachers or law enforcement using students’ preferred pronouns or names.

Hill said he was hearing about the topic from teachers; he also cited a bill passed by the Michigan House that he incorrectly stated would make it a felony penalty to not use someone’s preferred pronoun — the bill does not contain the word “pronouns” and expands the state’s hate crime law to include protections for gender identity and sexuality.

“This, I called it secular ideological entity, is forcing this down our throats, so I shouldn’t have to recognize that more than anything else,” Hill said.

He said that during the bill’s hearing, he will bring forward teachers who have dealt with this issue.

Although the bill wouldn’t impact the private sector, he gave the example of this happening at other companies as well.

“Everybody’s scared,” Hill said. “I work at United Airlines, the most-woke company on the planet. I mean, I’m in fear all the time, because they can come down and do whatever they want.”

He noted that other states have passed similar legislation. At least 10 states have passed similar laws, Education Week reported.

The committee voted to introduce the bill, with only Democrats Gannon and Mark Stinson, who is a substitute for Rep. Colin Nash, D-Boise, voting against it.

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on X @EyeOnBoiseGuido.