Congressional Republicans launched what some are calling a national 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 members of Congress on Tuesday launched the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act of 2022, which might prohibit the usage of federal funds “to develop, implement, facilitate, or fund any sexually-oriented program, event, or literature for children under the age of 10, and for other purposes.”
The bill defines “sexually-oriented material” as “any depiction, description, or simulation of sexual activity, any lewd or lascivious depiction or description of human genitals, or any topic involving gender identity, gender dysphoria, transgenderism, sexual orientation, or related subjects.”
The sweeping laws would have an effect on all federally funded services and programs, which would come with public libraries, federally funded colleges, navy bases and hospitals. It would prohibit colleges, for instance, from offering intercourse training or library books that embrace LGBTQ subjects to youngsters underneath 10. It would additionally bar public libraries from utilizing funds to host Drag Story Hour occasions — a national program began in 2015 during which drag performers learn youngsters’s books to children.
Johnson described the bill as “commonsense.”
“The Democrat Party and their cultural allies are on a misguided crusade to immerse young children in sexual imagery and radical gender ideology,” he said in a statement. “No federal tax dollars should go to any federal, state, or local government agencies, or private organizations that intentionally expose children under 10 years of age to sexually explicit material.”
Some critics on social media have known as the bill a model of Florida’s just lately enacted Parental Rights in Education law “on steroids.”
LGBTQ advocates dubbed the parental rights measure the “Don’t Say Gay” bill as a result of it prohibits “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity” in kindergarten by grade 3 “or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill in March.
Proponents of the legislation say it applies solely by grade 3, however critics have emphasised the “age appropriate or developmentally appropriate” clause, which some authorized consultants stated might open up lecturers of all grade ranges to lawsuits from dad and mom.
Advocates say the legislation stigmatizes LGBTQ households and queer youths, who already face disproportionate charges of bullying and harassment at college.
“Your bill defines ‘sexually oriented material’ as anything that involves sexual orientation, gender identity, or related subjects,” Alejandra Caraballo, a medical teacher at Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic and a transgender-rights advocate, said on Twitter in response to a publish from Johnson. “Equating LGBTQ people to sexually explicit material is dehumanizing and disgusting. Let’s call this what it is, a national ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill.”
But some advocates say the federal bill would truly go additional than Florida’s measure, as a result of its impacts would lengthen exterior simply school rooms to any establishment, program or occasion that receives federal funding or takes place on federal property.
The bill is a part of a national wave of laws over the previous couple of years that characterizes LGBTQ folks and ideas as inherently sexual, though it’s among the many first launched on the federal degree.
In addition to measures like Florida’s parental rights bill, some Republicans have gone as far as to say exposing youngsters to drag performers or LGBTQ-inclusive curricula is a type of sexual “grooming” — resurfacing a decades-old false ethical panic about LGBTQ folks.
Just a day earlier than Johnson launched the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act, Blaine Conzatti, the president of the conservative Idaho Family Policy Center, told the Idaho Capital Sun that state representatives would introduce a bill in January to ban drag performances in all public venues within the state.
“No child should ever be exposed to sexual exhibitions like drag shows in public places, whether that’s at a public library or a public park,” he stated.