A new bill that would limit the use of preferred pronouns could open Idaho up to lawsuits if it makes its way through the Legislature, attorneys told the Idaho Statesman.
Rep. Ted Hill, R-Eagle, introduced a bill that would prohibit public employees from being required to refer to people by the pronouns they use and forbid teachers from calling their students by their requested pronouns without written permission from their parents. The bill addresses a “constitutional issue that has crept into our society where compelled speech becomes something that we have to honor,” Hill, the bill sponsor, told a legislative committee.
The bill aims to protect government employees from facing repercussions if they refuse to call people by anything other than their legal name or the pronoun connected to their biological sex . It would also let public employees sue if they face repercussions for refusing to use preferred pronouns.
But the legislation raised concerns over whether it’s constitutional. Jodi Nafzger, the Title IX coordinator for the College of Idaho, told the Idaho Statesman by phone that Hill’s bill, and others like it, raise “distinct constitutional questions” around free speech and due process.