(*8*)What would this bill do?: If passed, the bill would require all teachers and school staff — including social workers and school counselors — to disclose LGBTQ+ students to their parents. The bill would require schools to “notify the student’s parents of any change in student services or monitoring related to the student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being.” The bill was amended in April to include “counseling services,” which currently requires parents to be notified of anything a student shares during confidential counseling sessions.
The bill also requires parental notification for “sexually explicit” materials in the curriculum, with the definition of “sexually explicit” only vague. In June, the bill was further amended to replace the word “sexuality” with “sexually explicit.” With this change, the language now explicitly includes LGBTQ+ identities, meaning that parental notification must occur for any representation of LGBTQ+ identities. This could include depictions of same-sex parents in children’s books, a student showing and telling a napkin from their sibling’s same-sex wedding, or screening of the up-to-date Disney filmLGBTQ+ rights advocates call it the “Dangerous Students Act” and the “Gay/Trans Talk Ban Act.”
(*8*)Status of the bill:
– The bill, HB 8, was referred five times in the Elementary and Secondary Education Committee and was passed by the committee on June 13.
– The bill passed the House of Representatives on June 21 by a vote of 65 to 29, with one Republican voting against the bill: Rep. Jamie Callendar (R-Concord).
– The case was assigned to the Senate Education Committee on September 13, and a fourth hearing was held there on June 26.
