Louisiana lawmakers advanced a bill Wednesday that would protect teachers who refuse to use students鈥 preferred gender pronouns 鈥 even when students have their parents鈥 permission to identify as another gender.
The House Education Committee also voted in favor of a measure, dubbed 鈥淒on鈥檛 Say Gay鈥 by critics, that prohibits discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity during class or extracurricular activities. Gov. Jeff Landry, who has claimed some educators promote 鈥渞adical鈥 ideas in the classroom, is if they reach his desk.
The votes took place Wednesday afternoon after most other legislative committee meetings had been canceled amid severe weather. Critics said the move silenced LGBTQ+ advocates who had planned to speak out against the bills but stayed home due to unsafe driving conditions. But the committee鈥檚 chair, Rep. Laurie Schlegel, R-Metairie, said the committee wasn鈥檛 canceled because lawmakers still have many bills to discuss this session.
Advocates who did attend said the measures, which now head to the House floor, would stigmatize LGBTQ+ students and have a chilling effect on classroom discussions if, for example, teachers fear that a stray comment about their spouse could violate the law. But the bills鈥 authors said they did not intend to target LGBTQ+ educators or students, only to ensure that parents control what their children learn and how they navigate sensitive issues like gender identity.
鈥淭his is meant to protect the children in that their parents know what's going on and are able to shepherd them,鈥 said Rep. Raymond Crews, R-Bossier City, who sponsored the pronoun bill. 鈥淭hat's the goal and the function of parents.鈥
Republican lawmakers across the country have imposed a host of new restrictions on LGBTQ+ young people in recent years, with a focus on limiting accommodations for transgender youth and banning books and classroom discussions about LGBTQ+ issues.
Much of the legislation centers on schools, with proponents arguing that sensitive issues should be left to parents. At least require schools to notify parents when students want to change names or pronouns, while prohibit classroom discussions about sexuality and gender, according to tallies by the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit that promotes LGBTQ+ rights.
Louisiana has followed the national trends by banning transgender young people from and joining sports teams that match their gender identity. Another bill lawmakers are weighing this year, House Bill 608, would bar transgender youth from using public school bathrooms that align with their gender identity.
The Legislature also passed bills last year limiting classroom discussion and pronoun changes, but they were vetoed by then-Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat who said the proposals would harm vulnerable children.
The bills face far better odds of becoming law under Landry, a conservative Republican who took office in January and has embraced culture-war issues. At Wednesday鈥檚 hearing, a Landry's office representative submitted position cards on the bills that Schlegel, the chair, noted as a signal of support.
Crews鈥 proposal, would require parents鈥 permission for students to change the name or pronouns they use in school, and allow school employees to refuse to use pronouns that don鈥檛 match students鈥 sex assigned at birth. , sponsored by Rep. Dodie Horton, R- Haughton, would prohibit school employees or volunteers from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity during class or extracurricular activities.
Horton, who sponsored a similar bill last year that was vetoed, said her bill was meant to ward against 鈥渋nappropriate influence and intrusion.鈥 She said some teachers have used class time to 鈥渧alidate their own lifestyle choice,鈥 citing a non-binary teacher in Caddo Parish who said on social media that they 鈥渆njoyed鈥 students鈥 confusion about the teacher鈥檚 gender 鈥 an incident . The teacher said they avoided students鈥 questions about their identity so as not to get in trouble.
Horton said the bill was not meant to target LGBTQ+ people, but aims to prevent 鈥渁nyone that I suppose has a different identity than what they were born with discussing that, or even discussing their lifestyle choice with whomever or however,鈥 in the classroom.
Democrats, a minority on the committee, voted against the bills, and a lone Republican, Rep. Barbara Reich Freiberg, R-香港六和开奖历史记录, joined them in voting against Horton鈥檚 bill.
Frieberg cast the bill as difficult to enforce and noted that no school districts or parents showed up to support it.
鈥淚 think that that silence speaks volumes,鈥 she said. 鈥淭his is not a big issue for them.鈥
Freiberg also challenged Crews鈥 claim that his bill upholds parents鈥 rights, noting that it allows teachers to refuse to use the pronoun requested by a student鈥檚 parents if doing so would violate the teacher鈥檚 religious beliefs.
Advocates who spoke at the hearing said the bills were discriminatory. They warned about the possible harm to LGBTQ+ students, who are disproportionately likely to die by suicide and to .
鈥淚t's not because of who they are,鈥 said Jamie Segura, who said she is a lesbian who lives in St. Tammany Parish. 鈥淚t's because these types of laws and discrimination encourage others to harass and bully them.鈥
Staff writer Meghan Friedmann contributed reporting.聽
