ND: Actual Anti-Furry Legislation. Really.

Furry panic has been going on now for over a year, seemingly impervious to debunking and facts and common sense. 

So some legislators got together in North Dakota to protect--I don't know. Something?

I shouldn't make light of House Bill 1522, because the main thrust of this two-page waste of the legislature's time is one more attack on transgender students. The bill defines" sex" as "the biological state of being male and female, based on the individual's nonambiguous sex organs, chromosomes, and endogenous hormone profiles at birth." So once again, the state will want to literally check inside your child's pants, and maybe you'd better keep a picture of your child's genitals at birth on file, just in case some cranky parents want to throw charges at your daughter just because she beat their precious Buffy in a track and field event (which is not something I'm making up, but an actual event in Utah).

The bill goes on to say that no school may set up "a place, facility, school program, or accommodation" for a transgender student, and that includes pronouns. If parents consent, and gender-afforming surgery has been performed on the student before this bill takes effect, then the school is allowed to set up a unisex bathroom. Since such surgery is not performed on minors, regardless of what that Facebook post you saw says, this just adds more junk to a junk bill.

Any parent of any child at the school can bring a "civil cause of action" against the school over a perceived violation. The parent can sue for up to half a million in "exemplary damages." See-- save those baby genital pictures for your day in court.

But wait--there's more! Along with not providing "a place, facility, school program, or accommodation" for transgender students, schools may also not cater to "a student's perception of being any animal species other than human." Thereby joining the ranks of legislators who have aimed to prohibit letting yeti's ride unicorns down the main street while throwing golden eggs. 

Rep. Lori VanWinkle, one co-sponsor, told NBC news in an email that "Yes we have people who would like to claim themselves as animals such as cats and dogs." Oh, honey. 

There was a committee hearing yesterday on this slab of baloney tagged as an "emergency measure" that is nestled in among seven bills making various sorts of attacks on transgender persons. There were also bills prohibiting medical transition procedures for people under 18, solving another problem that doesn't exist (unless the problem is that some legislator isn't getting enough press), a bill making conversion therapy okee dokee, and of course protection for female sports. The North Dakota legislature is having a great week; on Monday a bill passed out of committee to ban children from attending drag shows. Glad to know the North Dakota legislature is devoting time to the really important stuff.