BOISE, ID – Under a bill headed to the Idaho House, health care providers, schools and child care providers would be required to out transgender minors to their parents, or face lawsuits.

House Bill 822 would require schools, health care providers and child care providers to notify parents within three days after the entities receive “any request by the minor student to participate in or facilitate the social transition of the minor student.” That would include: Using a different name than their legal name, including a nickname; using pronouns or titles that don’t align with their sex assigned at birth; using restrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, or overnight lodging that are meant to be used by another sex; and playing on a sports team of another sex.

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Bruce Skaug, a Nampa Republican lawmaker who led efforts to criminalize gender-affirming care for all minors in Idaho and expanded the ban to taxpayer funds, which prevented Medicaid from covering gender-affirming care and prompted an eastern Idaho clinic to halt offering gender-affirming care.

Skaug told lawmakers that in working on a previous bill, he heard from parents who said their child was socially transitioning but that the school wouldn’t answer the parents’ questions. He called his bill a parental rights issue.

“They learned much later that their child was actually being socially transitioned … That’s wrong to keep things from parents,” Skaug said Monday. “That’s what this bill is about. Parents have to know if this type of thing is going on.”

Debate on Idaho bill was cut off early

Major medical groups say gender-affirming care is medically necessary and safe. Some European nations are tightening standards for gender affirming-care.

The House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee approved the bill Monday with little debate; only the committee’s three Democrats opposed it. It could be up for a vote in the House in the coming days.

Rep. Joe Alfieri, a Republican from Coeur d’Alene who was acting as chairman while Skaug presented his bill, cut off public testimony and committee debate early.

Then a handful of people shouted about the dangers of the bill as they walked out.

“You want to know why kids detransition. It’s because they aren’t accepted by their parents or their family,” the first person said. “You know why their suicide rates are so high? For the same reason.”

“This bill is gonna kill kids,” another said.

Democratic lawmakers pressed Skaug on several parts of the bill, including why it allowed for up to $100,000 civil penalties for violations, and why it defined social transitions as including “appearance, or dress that does not correspond to the individual’s sex” but not including that under the reporting requirements for health care providers, schools and child care providers.

Nurse testifies the bill dictates the timing of ‘most sensitive conversations’

Two people who testified in favor of the bill were from national groups.

Erin Friday, an attorney and member of the group Our Duty, said she was from California and said her child’s high school socially transitioned her child without her knowledge. Matt Sharp, senior counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a powerful conservative Christian law firm, claimed that several Idaho school districts have policies that direct school staff to conceal information from parents about gender transitions.

Melissa Webb, a nurse from Boise, testified against the bill, arguing that it “dictates the timing and nature of some of the most sensitive conversations a parent can have with a child.”

“Families who already communicate well will not benefit from this bill, but several groups of children will be harmed,” she said. “This bill harms children who need time … those who may face volatile reactions at home, and even kids who are simply experimenting with normal adolescent identity.”

Idaho Family Policy Center Policy Analyst Edward Clark told lawmakers that “parents have a natural right to direct the upbringing and education of their children.”

The committee heard no testimony from doctors. Here’s what one planned to say.

The committee heard public testimony from no doctors.

Dr. Jessica Rolynn, a doctor who practices gender-affirming care in eastern Idaho, had planned to testify virtually on the bill. She told the Idaho Capital Sun that she would’ve told lawmakers about how this bill “removes the professional judgement that allows clinicians and educators to keep children safe.”

“Not every home is safe. Some youth face rejection, emotional harm, or even homelessness when sensitive information is revealed without careful planning,” Rolynn planned to say, according to her prepared remarks. “This bill contains no mechanism for safety assessment and no allowance for clinical discretion.”

In a written statement, ACLU of Idaho spokesperson Rebecca De León called the bill an “example of unconstitutional, big government overreach into our private lives.”

“Forcing school employees and medical professionals, including counselors, to monitor and ‘out’ students who have questions about their gender identity is dangerous for transgender students and a serious violation of privacy for all students. Moreover, HB 822 threatens to undermine bedrock free speech protections for students, teachers and health care professionals and is clearly unconstitutional,” she said. “Politicians who stand for small government and personal liberties should not regulate how people dress or express themselves.”

Skaug’s bill would allow parents to sue health care providers, schools and child care providers that violate the bill. And the attorney general could enforce the bill himself, pursuing up to $100,000 civil penalties against schools and health care providers that violate the bill. Those civil penalties, the bill says, “shall be proportionate to the violation as determined by the court based on the facts and circumstances of the violation, including the seriousness of the violation, the state of mind of the violator, and the damages actually caused by the violation of this section.”

If that entity operates under a professional license, the bill allows licensing boards to discipline schools, child care providers or health care providers “in a manner that it deems appropriate.”

To become law, Idaho bills must pass the House and Senate, and avoid the governor’s veto.

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.