A national ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law? Republicans introduce bill to restrict LGBTQ-related programs
Congressional Republicans brought what a few are calling a countrywide model of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill — or what critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana and 32 different Republican participants of Congress on Tuesday brought the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act of 2022, which could limit the usage of federal finances “to develop, implement, facilitate, or fund any sexually-orientated software, occasion, or literature for youngsters beneathneath the age of 10, and for different purposes.”
The bill defines “sexually-orientated cloth” as “any depiction, description, or simulation of sexual activity, any lewd or lascivious depiction or description of human genitals, or any subject matter regarding gender identity, gender dysphoria, transgenderism, sexual orientation, or associated subjects.”
The sweeping law could have an effect on all federally funded centers and programs, which could consist of public libraries, federally funded schools, navy bases and hospitals. It could limit schools, for example, from imparting intercourse training or library books that consist of LGBTQ subjects to youngsters beneathneath 10. It could additionally bar public libraries from the usage of finances to host Drag Story Hour events — a countrywide software began out in 2015 wherein drag performers study youngsters’s books to kids.
Johnson defined the bill as “commonsense.”
“The Democrat Party and their cultural allies are on a erroneous campaign to immerse younger youngsters in sexual imagery and radical gender ideology,” he stated in a statement. “No federal tax greenbacks have to visit any federal, kingdom, or neighborhood authorities agencies, or non-public businesses that deliberately disclose youngsters beneathneath 10 years of age to sexually specific cloth.”
Some critics on social media have known as the bill a model of Florida’s these days enacted Parental Rights in Education Law “on steroids.”
LGBTQ advocates dubbed the parental rights degree the “Don’t Say Gay” bill as it prohibits “lecture room practise via way of means of college employees or 0.33 events on sexual orientation or gender identity” in kindergarten thru grade 3 “or in a way that isn’t age suitable or developmentally suitable for college students according with kingdom standards.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill in March.
Proponents of the Law say it applies best thru grade 3, however critics have emphasised the “age suitable or developmentally suitable” clause, which a few prison professionals stated should open up instructors of all grade stages to court cases from parents.
Advocates say the Law stigmatizes LGBTQ households and queer youths, who already face disproportionate charges of bullying and harassment at college.
“Your bill defines ‘sexually orientated cloth’ as some thing that entails sexual orientation, gender identity, or associated subjects,” Alejandra Caraballo, a medical teacher at Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic and a transgender-rights advocate, stated on Twitter in reaction to a submit from Johnson. “Equating LGBTQ humans to sexually specific cloth is dehumanizing and disgusting. Let’s name this what it is, a countrywide ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill.”
But a few advocates say the federal bill could really cross similarly than Florida’s degree, due to the fact its influences could increase out of doors simply lecture rooms to any institution, software or occasion that gets federal investment or takes location on federal property.
The bill is a part of a countrywide wave of law over the previous couple of years that characterizes LGBTQ humans and ideas as inherently sexual, even though it is the various first brought on the federal level.
In addition to measures like Florida’s parental rights bill, a few Republicans have long past up to now as to mention exposing youngsters to tug performers or LGBTQ-inclusive curricula is a shape of sexual “grooming” — resurfacing a decades-vintage fake ethical panic approximately LGBTQ humans.
Just an afternoon earlier than Johnson brought the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act, Blaine Conzatti, the president of the conservative Idaho Family Policy Center, informed the Idaho Capital Sun that kingdom representatives could introduce a bill in January to prohibit drag performances in all public venues withinside the kingdom.
“No baby have to ever be uncovered to sexual exhibitions like drag indicates in public places, whether or not that’s at a public library or a public park,” he stated.
