Education

Texas Bill Would Ban School Instruction, Guidance, or Activities Related to Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity

Plus: Naked Feminism, marijuana legalization in Minnesota, and more...

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Person protesting in Texas with rainbow striped sign that says "Y'all means All" | Bob Daemmrich/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom
(Bob Daemmrich/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom)

A Texas education bill would outlaw "instruction, guidance, activities, or programming regarding sexual orientation or gender identity to students enrolled in prekindergarten through 12th grade." The proposal comes in the form of a substitution to H.B. 890, a narrower bill related to parental rights in public schools.

Critics are portraying it as an even more extreme version of a Florida proposal that opponents dubbed the "don't say gay" law, one that could even ban student LGBTQ clubs in Texas high schools.

H.B. 890 passed the Texas House of Representatives unanimously in April and is now being considered in the state's Senate. As introduced, the bill laid out a process by which school "personnel, students or the parents or guardians of students, and members of the public may obtain a hearing from the district administrators and the board regarding a complaint." It stated that this process must include an initial administrative hearing and the opportunity to appeal an initial administrative decision, and that complaints must be resolved in a timely manner.

Originally, the bill "was meant to create this lovely communication process so that we could lodge complaints and have an organized system for them to be handled across the state, and it was unanimously passed by the House; there was not one single nay vote in the House," Kristin Braun, a priest and parent of two Texas high school students, told CBS' Austin affiliate.

Last week, state Sen. Brandon Creighton (R–The Woodlands) introduced a substitute to H.B. 890, which was voted out of the Senate Committee on Education 10–3.

Creighton's version is a much longer and more elaborate bill, touching on everything from school district transfers to schools withholding information about children from their parents, biometric data collection, and instruction regarding sexual orientation and gender identity.

It first states that "the fundamental rights granted to parents by their Creator and upheld by the United States Constitution, the Texas Constitution, and the laws of this state…may not be infringed on by any public elementary or secondary school or state governmental entity" unless necessary to further a compelling state interest and narrowly tailored to achieve that interest.

That sounds reasonable. And yet…while upholding parents' rights, Creighton's version of H.B. 890 would seem to infringe on children's rights in negative ways.

For instance, it says that school districts may not "withhold information from a parent regarding the parent's child" and that they must inform parents of "any change in services provided to or monitoring of the student related to the student's mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being." This could be read to require school counselors and other staff to report to parents if a student of any age talks to them about mental health issues, gender issues, struggles at home, sexuality, contraception, or any number of things that some students may have good reason to want to keep from their parents. That, in turn, could enable further strife or abuse at home and/or prevent students from opening up at school about such issues at all.

The most controversial part is probably a section regarding sexual orientation and gender identity. It states in full:

(a) A school district, open-enrollment charter school, or district or charter school employee may not provide or allow a third party to provide instruction, guidance, activities, or programming regarding sexual orientation or gender identity to students enrolled in prekindergarten through 12th grade.

(b) This section may not be construed to limit:

    1. a student's ability to engage in speech or expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or by Section 8, Article 1, Texas Constitution, that does not result in material disruption to school activities; or
    2. the ability of a person who is authorized by he district to provide physical or mental health-related services to provide the services to a student, subject to any required parental consent.

It seems section (b) attempts to mitigate concerns about the broadness of section (a). But saying students can talk about gender and sexuality issues at school and/or with a counselor so long as their parents allow it and the school doesn't deem it disruptive is not terribly reassuring.

As with the Florida law, Creighton's provision would seem to prevent even older kids and teenagers from being exposed to any mention of sexuality or gender identity, even when it happens in an age-appropriate manner, is part of a larger discussion about social issues, or is brought up by kids themselves. It would also seem to ban any books or other materials about these topics from school libraries and, yes, possibly ban student LGBTQ clubs as well.

A more narrowly tailored parents' rights solution might give parents who object to such instruction or programming a right to opt their kids out; instead, this says it's not allowed for anyone.

Supporters of such measures often portray them as preventing radical gender ideology or sexually explicit information from being offered to small children. But in practice, lawmakers keep offering sweeping measures like this one that attempt to keep any talk of gender or sexuality out of even high schools.

"It is unconscionable that lawmakers would attempt to sneak a 'Don't Say Gay/Transgender' requirement into a bill that was not at all crafted for this purpose and previously received bipartisan support," Texas Freedom Network Senior Political Director Carisa Lopez said in a statement. "Anti-LGBTQ legislation of this nature creates an unsafe, hostile learning environment for LGBTQIA+ students, families, and educators while violating the rights of all families and parents who support inclusivity."

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