HB 1069 has passed the HOUSE. The companion bill, SB 1320, is now in the Fiscal Policy committee but as of 3/31/2023 has not been put on the agenda. Senator Travis Hutson is the chair of that committee. Does he have the power to let this awful bill die? If yes, will he?
HB 1069 has passed the HOUSE.
From the latest (CS CS 1069) analysis:
Requires that district school boards be responsible for the contents of classroom libraries, in addition to instructional materials and school libraries.
Any specific materials subject to an objection by a parent or a resident of the county to the use of a specific material on the basis that the materials describe or depict sexual conduct must be removed from circulation at the school where the objection was made, within 5 days of the objection, until the completion of the objection process Each district school board must adopt a policy
The bill requires the DOE to annually approve all instructional materials used to teach reproductive health and any disease, including HIV/AIDS.
The bill requires instruction related to human sexuality classify males and females in accordance with this bill's definition of “sex”; that biological males impregnate biological females by fertilizing the female egg with male sperm; that the female then gestates the offspring; and that these reproductive roles are binary, stable, and unchangeable.
Prohibits instruction relating to sexual orientation and gender identity in pre-K through grade 8 and expressly stating that charter schools must comply with this requirement.
The bill requires additional transparency regarding school district policies and procedures.
Pronouns
A school employee may not ask a girl what pronoun she uses. A school employee also can't ask a boy what pronoun he uses. [And I'm not sure what pronoun the employee is supposed to use if they can't tell if the student is a boy or a girl. Maybe they are supposed to use gender neutral pronouns such as they?]
The bill prohibits an employee (etc) at a public K-12 educational institution, to be required to refer to another individual by a pronoun that does not align with the person’s sex. [How is the employee supposed to know the person's sex?]
A K-12 public institution employee or contractor may not provide a student with the individual's preferred personal title or pronouns if they do not correspond to the employee or contactor’s sex as defined in the bill.
The bill provides an exception to these prohibitions for individuals with certain atypical biological conditions as enumerated in the bill.
From the bill:
81 (9) "Sex" means the classification of a person as either 82 female or male based on the organization of the body of such 83 person for a specific reproductive role, as indicated by the 84 person's sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, and 85 internal and external genitalia present at birth.
Parts of this bill applies to charter schools, so why doesn't all of it apply to charter schools? If it should apply to charter schools, then the the community should be able object to instructional material that isn't based on current scientific evidence. Taxpayers shouldn't be funding charter schools that teach the earth is flat and other unsubstantiated hypotheses.
I think this bill as written is absurd in places and cruel in other places. My menstrual period ended years ago so I no longer have a reroductive role, what sex am I according to this bill? What's wrong with asking someone what pronoun they use? And why are legislators being mean to trans folks?
Comments