This article was originally published on 06/25/24.
During Pride Month, I have a muddy little secret to tell you: I routinely respond to posts in an ultraconservative Facebook group titled “Parents’ Rights in Education.”
The list of habitual original posters in the group reads like a list of the most anti-LGBTQ+ people in Ohio, including:
Members of this group include Republican Reps. Gary Click, Angie King, Josh Williams and Beth Lear – the architects of all of Ohio’s anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. So is David Mahan, policy director of the Center for Christian Virtue.
And me.
Honestly, I’m surprised I haven’t been kicked out yet, which isn’t due to some members’ lack of interest in me leaving. This weekend, Chase publicly asked Chaffee if I should be banned because “I am not contributing usefully.” Some other guy with a profile picture with an American flag surprisingly and successfully convinced me to stay in the group.
So I stay in the group, quixotically trying to insert my perspective where it’s really not needed.
Editor’s note 2/12/24: I have been banned from this Facebook group.
I’ve seen these people say horrible things about LGBTQ+ people. I’ve seen these people reject every anti-DEIB trope found in conservative textbooks. I have seen these people fight for all of Ohio’s anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, perhaps none more so than HB 8, the Parents’ Bill of Rights.
HB 8 would force all teachers and school employees – including school counselors, therapists, social workers and psychologists – to automatically provide LGBTQ+ students access to their parents.
The actual language: :
This policy requires the school district… to notify a student’s parent of any changes to the student’s services, including counseling or monitoring services related to the student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being or the school’s ability to provide a safe and sound care and supportive learning environment for a student… including any request by a student to identify as a gender that is not congruent with the student’s biological sex.
Supporters have made it clear that a student sharing their LGBTQ+ identity directly implicates “change in student services.”
HB 8 was passed by the Ohio House in June 2023 Republicans recently said they are committed to passing it in 2024. If it is rejected by the Senate Education Committee, it will be forwarded to the full Senate for consideration and, if successful there, it will go to Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk for approval.
During hearings in the House and Senate, 15 people spoke in favor of the bill and 127 were against it. Those 127 include representatives from multiple professional organizations who say HB 8 violates standards in their field by destroying the confidentiality that students reasonably expect from mental health providers.
To be clear, there is a lot of legislation currently under consideration in Ohio that impacts LGBTQ+ youth.
But as an editor of an LGBTQ+ publication, a full professor of education with a Ph.D. in educational leadership and someone who regularly works with teachers and therapists in training, there is no bill more harmful to our entire education system than HB 8.
The bill also includes a program component that would require parents to be notified of “sexual content” (i.e., LGBTQ+ topics), but forced exit alone is enough to cause actual harm to students. And not only homosexual children.
Here are the myths I saw on this Facebook page and the actual reality:
MYTH: Teachers hide everything from parents.
REALITY: Just because a student seeks out an adult at school for advice does not automatically mean that someone intends to withhold information from their parents. It may simply be the child and a trusted adult determining the best way to break the news to parents, especially if there is a concern about molestation. I had absolutely no fear of being abused by my parents, and yet I went to my teacher first to strategize before coming out to my parents.
MYTH: Parents have the right to know.
REALITY: Students also have rights, including the right to come forward on their own terms. Consider statistics: :
- As many as 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ, while the general youth population is only 10% LGBTQ.
- 26% of homeless LGBTQ youth say they have been forced to leave their homes solely because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
I don’t think we should assume that parents will automatically kick LGBTQ+ students out of the home, but we should start from a place where trust youthful people when they choose an adult with whom they want to share their personal data.
MYTH: HB 8 will allow teachers to focus solely on teaching.
REALITY: There will be fewer teachers. When I work with teachers in training, I explain to them the language on compulsory absences in the bill and they are universally dismayed. Of course, teachers enter this field to educate students, but also to be a source of support for students in need. Given all the overwhelming pressure on teachers today, it only takes one parent lawsuit against a teacher they believe is withholding information to convince other teachers and future teachers that the profession is certainly not worth it.
MYTH: HB 8 only seeks to inform parents whether students are part of the LGBTQ+ community, which parents have a right to know.
REALITY: This is a huge deal and I cannot overestimate the immeasurable damage that will be done here. Once students understand – and quickly understand – that adults will share private information with their parents, they will no longer confide in their teachers.
It’s not just LGBTQ+ students; all students.
Word will get out and no student will confide in a teacher: not about eating disorders, dating violence, or whether they are experiencing bullying. Here is the key fragment:
The Parents’ Bill of Rights will not mean that teachers and school staff will start sharing information with parents. The Parents’ Bill of Rights will mean that youth will stop sharing information with teachers and school staff.
Again, it’s not just LGBTQ+ students; all students.
The purpose of the Parents’ Bill of Rights is to “strengthen the fundamental right of parents to make decisions regarding the upbringing and control of their children.”
I wholeheartedly support this goal and do everything in my power to explain to my students that parents are our allies in education, and certainly not our enemies.
However, achieving the goal of working with parents by destroying the trust between youthful people and adults in school will have consequences that will affect every part of our education system.
HB 8 will dramatically enhance the likelihood that students will suffer in silence, make it more tough for school officials to provide strong resources, and ultimately provide parents with less information about their children than they currently have.
Please talk about HB 8 with the people around you. Commit to explaining the bill to three people in the next 24 hours before the bill is heard on Wednesday, and then call three family members, text three friends, or respond to three posts in an extremely conservative Facebook group.
Question the very idea of a “Parents’ Bill of Rights.” The safety of our students truly depends on it. 🔥
START ACTION
- From Equality Ohio: “Please call Chairman of the Brenner Commission at (614) 466-8086. We encourage you to share your concerns and urge you to stop supporting HB 8 in the legislative process.”
