CV NEWS FEED // North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum has announced his presidential campaign, but pro-family activists have noted that he has repeatedly vetoed bills designed to protect children from far-left agendas in the past few months, making him one of the only Republican leaders in the country to promote progressive values.
In early April, Burgum vetoed a bill that would protect teachers in the public school system who don’t collaborate with “gender transitions” by using “trans” pronouns for their students.
“The teaching profession is challenging enough without the heavy hand of the state government forcing teachers to take on the role of pronoun police,” Burgum said, defending his veto. He also claimed that the bill was redundant because teachers are already protected by the First Amendment.
The North Dakota Senate and House were able to override his veto and the law went into effect in May.
Burgum vetoed another bill just a few weeks later, this time disagreeing with those who proposed that librarians should be required to screen sexually explicit material from children under penalty of prosecution.
Burgum said that “protecting children from explicit sexual material is common sense,” and that passing the bill would have placed an unnecessary burden and threat of criminal punishment on librarians throughout the state.
In 2021, Burgum vetoed a bill that proposed protecting K-12 girls from having to compete with boys in sports.
Similar to his explanations for the other vetoes, Burgum defended himself by calling the bill unnecessary. “North Dakota today has a level playing field and fairness in girls’ sports,” Burgum said at the time. “There still has not been a single recorded incident of a transgender girl playing or entering the process to even ask to play on a North Dakota girls’ team.”
Left-wing operatives praised Burgum’s decision.
Libby Skarin, a campaign director for the American Civil Liberties Union, said that the bill was discriminatory and unfair to “transgender” students. “We’re thrilled with Gov. Burgum’s decision to veto this bill,” she said.
The North Dakota Senate and House were able to pass this bill as well thanks to Republicans’ veto-proof majorities. It was signed into law this April.
