No witnesses participated in Tuesday’s fifth hearing on HB 8 – the Parents’ Bill of Rights. There were no supporters, no opponents, and no testimony.
Instead, an amendment was introduced to the Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education that LGBTQ+ advocates say made the already anti-LGBTQ+ bill even more clearly anti-LGBTQ+.
The bill’s existing language would force all teachers and school employees – including social workers and school counselors – to report to parents of LGBTQ+ students. The bill also required parents to be notified about “sexually explicit” material in the curriculum, with only a vague definition of “sexually explicit.”
Within 13 minutes on Tuesday, that language was changed. Here are the changes:
- Wording was added stating: “The General Assembly holds the position that a parent has the fundamental right to make decisions regarding the upbringing, education and care of the parent’s child.” This language apparently does not apply to HB 68, the proposed ban on gender-affirming care, which states that parents do not have this fundamental right.
- Added language stating that “all sexual content is age and developmentally appropriate.” The terms “age appropriate and developmentally appropriate” are not defined.
- Instead of the word “sexually explicit”, the word “sexuality” was added. After several other substitutions, the language now reads: “Sexuality means any oral or written instruction, presentation, depiction or description of sexual concepts or gender ideology.” With this override, the language now explicitly includes LGBTQ+ identity, meaning that parents must be notified for any representation of an LGBTQ+ identity. This may include depictions of same-sex parents in children’s books, a student showing a napkin from a same-sex wedding to a sibling, or screening of a fresh Disney movie.
- Added language requiring parents to be notified in the event of “any request by a student to identify as a gender that is not consistent with the student’s biological sex.” A definition of “biological sex” has also been added to match the language of the newly introduced bathroom bill.
Democrats on the committee tried to offer an amendment because the bill’s sponsors weren’t even present, but the motion was defeated.
The amendment passed by a 7-5 majority, with all Republicans on the committee voting to approve the fresh language and all Democrats voting against.
The next hearing for HB 8 has not yet been scheduled, but the committee will likely hold a vote on whether to approve the bill at the earliest opportunity. 🔥
Ignite the action
- Contact information for the members of the Primary and Secondary Education Committee can be found Here.
