A Tennessee bill allowing parents to waive LGBTQ-related curriculum for their children cleared the legislature 64-23 Wednesday morning.
The bill will head to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk for his signature.
The initiative, championed by Covington Republicans Sen. Paul Rose and Rep. Debra Moody, would require school districts to notify parents of any instructions related to sexual orientation and gender identity. Parents would have the right to excuse their children from the curriculum, and students would be shielded from any punishment because of it.
The bill’s passage marks another major victory this year for conservative lawmakers seeking to restrict LGBTQ rights in the state. Tennessee legislature swiftly passed the controversial transgender athlete bill in March, becoming the third legislative body this year to carry it through.
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It also mirrors years of attempts by Republican lawmakers to erase LGBTQ-related content from classrooms. The famous “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would have barred the teaching of “anything other than heterosexuality,” failed in 2012 and 2013. This year, another bill seeking to ban LGBTQ-related teaching materials altogether is also making progress in the House.
Proponents for Rose and Moody’s proposal have argued the bill allows parents — instead of the government — to make choices for their children. Many of those lawmakers, however, have voted for the transgender athlete law, which requires children to play sports under their sex at birth.
“Government does not own our children,” said Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver, R-Lancaster. “Parents are responsible, and parents have every right to opt their child out of anything that is taught in the school that the parent does not believe their child should be involved with.”
The measure has drawn staunch opposition from multiple groups, including teachers and parents. LGBTQ rights advocates argue the bill would further marginalize gender minority groups and deny all kids the opportunity to understand LGBTQ communities exist.
“How do you try to make people afraid of a certain population? Well, talk about how scary they are in school or refuse to acknowledge that they exist in school,” said Cathryn Oakley of the Human Rights Campaign. “It hurts everybody when LGBTQ people are excluded from those discussions.”
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The series of legislation could also affect the state’s economy. In Tennessee, 50 corporations and 134 local businesses have signed onto an open letter protesting anti-LGBTQ legislation. Joe Woolley, CEO of Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce, told The Tennessean three conventions are preparing to pull events out of Nashville within the next year — a decision triggered by the transgender athlete bill.
“The business community is overwhelmingly against anti-LGBT bills. Unfortunately, so-called business-friendly legislators are not listening to business or anyone else and continuing to advance discriminatory legislation,” Woolley said in a statement.
Bill passes following confusion, opposition from Democrats
The bill would not bar students from asking LGBTQ-related questions. Schools also would not be required to notify parents when mentioning the sexual orientation or gender identity of a historic figure to provide “necessary context.”
But it appears unclear how teachers should respond if the topic arises in other occasions.
For example, Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, questioned during a floor debate last week if the bill would forbid the teaching of landmark Supreme Court decisions or protests over LGBTQ rights. Rose responded by referring Yarbro to the bill language, which does not define “necessary context.”
Moody also pointed to the bill language when Rep. Sam McKenzie, D-Knoxville, raised a hypothetical scenario. He asked if teachers would be required to notify all parents during emergency situations, where students who identify as LGBTQ may have suicidal thoughts.
Other Democratic lawmakers argued against the bill, saying it would have detrimental impact on gender minority groups. Roughly 40% of LGBTQ youths seriously considered killing themselves in the last 12 months, according to The Trevor Project.
“We continue to stigmatize LGBTQ students and people in our state to the detriment of these students,” said Rep. Bob Freeman, D-Nashville.
Multiple supportive Republicans suggested they are uncomfortable with the topic of LGBTQ people. Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, said the bill would allow him to “protect” his child from curriculum he does not want to expose them to.
“As a parent, I find out when my child comes home what video they saw that day, not 30 days before so I can protect my own child from that,” he said. “Our kids are young and impressionable, and what we allow in their minds is important.”
Measure draws objection from educators
During a Metro Nashville Public Schools board meeting Tuesday night, teachers expressed concerns over the bill.
Lindsey Lieck, a teacher at H.G. Hill Middle School, said Tennessee’s anti-LGBTQ legislation is “detrimental to the success and well-being of students and staff.”
“As educators, we have the duty to provide our students with the skills and knowledge they need to navigate the world. This includes recognizing and supporting the LGBTQ community,” Lieck said at the meeting. “While there are people in our districts, our legislature and across the state that disapprove of LGBTQ people, our district has decided many times to support LGBTQ students. Now is a time that we as a district need to take a stand for our students.”
Lieck urged board members to tell lawmakers to stay out of classrooms.
“We don’t want them denying our students access to inclusive materials. LGBTQ students deserve to see themselves mirrored in the curriculum,” she said.
Mae Christiansen, another Metro Schools educator, also argued that the legislation will harm students as lawmakers attempt to use arguments about what is right or wrong to restrict teachers from using materials and affirming LGBTQ students’ identities.
“They are creating policies restricting the freedoms for students to be themselves biding with families that insist their heterosexual or cisgender children should feel comfortable in the school environment, essentially by never interacting with beliefs or people who are at odds with their own,” Christiansen said.
“As a sociology teacher, I tell my students from day one that it is not our job to decide what is right and wrong in our society or culture. We do not debate the existence of groups of people or their right to exist because they exist whether we believe they do,” she added. “We should not be prioritizing one student’s comfort over another student’s very existence.”
Reach Yue Stella Yu at yyu@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter at @bystellayu_tnsn.
Meghan Mangrum covers education for the USA TODAY Network — Tennessee. Contact her at mmangrum@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter @memangrum.
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