Lawmakers In Arizona, Tennessee OK Anti-LGBT Education Bills
- By
- Carlos Santoscoy
- | April 16, 2021
Lawmakers in two Republican-led states have approved bills that limit LGBT-related curriculum.
On Wednesday, lawmakers in Arizona approved Senate Bill 1456, sending it to Governor Doug Ducey, a Republican, for his signature. The bill would restrict discussions surrounding sexual orientation and gender identity by requiring state schools to get parents' permission. The bill would also make all HIV/AIDS instruction “opt-in.”
Michael Soto, executive director of Equality Arizona, an LGBT rights advocate, said that the bill would essentially erase LGBT history.
“This bill would require parental approval of curriculum for historical events like the Stonewall Rebellion,” he said.
Senator Nancy Barto, the bill's primary sponsor, told NBC affiliate 12 News that her legislation “solely protects a parent's right to decide when their child is ready and what their child is exposed to regarding sexual materials at school.”
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, said that the bill is “nothing more than a harmful attempt by Arizona legislators to discriminate against LGBTQ children.”
“Just as any other child, LGBTQ children should be able to see themselves in school curriculum, be affirmed, and have the opportunity to learn about themselves, including critically important health information as they develop,” HRC President Alphonso David said in a statement. “Over and over, we have seen that bills requiring parental consent for sex education disproportionately and negatively impact LGBTQ children. No matter their sexual orientation or gender identity, all students should feel supported by their schools and families to grow into who they are without fear – and without efforts to withhold important LGBTQ history from their education. This bill is nothing more than a harmful attempt by Arizona legislators to discriminate against LGBTQ children.”
Ducey has not said whether he will sign or veto the bill.
On Thursday, the Tennessee state legislature approved Senate Bill 1229, an anti-LGBT education bill, sending it to Governor Bill Lee, a Republican, for his signature.
The legislation would allow parents to opt children out of LGBT-inclusive instruction and would require state schools to alert parents 30 days before teaching any such curriculum.
The bill comes just weeks after lawmakers in the state approved a bill that bars transgender girls and women from participating in female sports.
HRC said that the bill tries to “erase LGBTQ people” and that lawmakers should instead focus on the coronavirus pandemic.
“The Tennessee state legislature is continuing on a discriminatory rampage to craft hateful bills that harm LGBTQ children, and signing this bill into law would hurt all Tennesseeans, including and especially LGBTQ youth,” HRC President Alphonso David said in a statement. “We strongly urge Governor Bill Lee to veto this bill. This bill purports to be about sex education but its ramifications could actually impact everything from history class to reading literature. Rather than indoctrinating hate in law with discriminatory bills that try to erase LGBTQ people, the Tennessee state legislature and Governor Lee should be focused on the real issues impacting Tennessee, such as COVID-19 relief.”