2023 Legislative Session Highlights and Updates

Social Work and Conversion Therapy: A Battle in North Dakota

ELIZABETH LOOS, Lobbyist, NASW-North Dakota Chapter

During the 2023 legislative session, Representative Brandon Prichard (R-Bismarck, District 8) introduced House Bill 1332 in an explicit attempt to reverse protections of LGBTQ people from the dangerous practice of conversion therapy by social workers. NASW-North Dakota’s Executive Director Kristin Rubbelke and our Advocacy Committee worked with our lobbyist, Elizabeth Loos, to defeat this malicious bill. They provided testimony to the House Human Services Committee and issued action alerts encouraging social workers throughout the state to submit testimony and contact legislators. Not only would this bill endanger LGBTQ+ individuals throughout the state, but it also undermines two years of the work by professional social workers. The day that the bill came up for a floor vote, NASW-North Dakota placed a letter on the desk of every house member, urging them to vote against HB 1332. On February 17, 2023, the house voted 35 to 56, and the measure failed. 

Despite the fact that this measure was defeated and protections for LGBTQ+ people receiving care from social workers remain in place, there is still work to be done for the safeguards of this group in North Dakota. The 2023 legislative session was particularly contentious, and numerous bills that will harm this community were passed. The NASW North Dakota Chapter pledges to provide a safe haven for the LGBTQ+ community and backs the persistent efforts to increase the group's rights and protections.

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