Two anti-LGBTQ bills sweep through committee as advocates face severe weather to testify

Shannon Heckt
·3 min read

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Despite tornado warnings across south Louisiana and closures in East Baton Rouge Parish, the legislature went forward with a controversial House Education meeting to discuss two anti-LGBTQ bills.

The committee heard HB122, which is Louisiana’s version of the Don’t Say Gay bill, that has come into popularity in Florida. The bill states that no teacher, school employee or presenter can talk about gender identity or sexual orientation in any way that deviates from the curriculum. It also bars such discussion in extracurricular activities, athletics or social events.

“What a parent teaches their children at home concerning these topics is according to their own ideals and their own morals,” said State Rep. Dodie Horton, R-Haughton.

This not only would impact classroom discussion, but it would ban clubs like Gay, Straight Alliances and similar groups that are often safe havens for LGBTQ children to meet like-minded peers.

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Teachers also would be banned from talking about their own gender identity and sexual orientation. Advocates took issue with this because it could mean a teacher couldn’t talk about their spouses and families.

“We believe this bill is unnecessary and only intends to muddy the water. And so, distrust of teachers stifles classroom discussion and affects the ability of teachers and students to communicate,” said Melissa Flournoy, Board Chair for 10,000 Women.

Local school boards would determine what the punishment would be for violating this law should it be passed. State Rep. Ken Brass, D-Vacherie, said this could lead to an even bigger teacher shortage in the state as educators would fear the blurred definition of gender identity and sexual orientation.

HB121 dubs itself the ‘Given Name Act’ and would require teachers and school staff to use the pronouns and name listed on a student’s birth certificate unless there is written parental permission. An employee would still have the option to opt out of using the name and pronouns even with parental permission if they don’t want to.

“This is meant to protect the children in that their parents know what’s going on and are able to shepherd them,” said State Rep. Raymond Crews, R-Bossier City.

A provision of the bill allows kids to move classes if the teacher refuses, but there is no answer of what happens if there isn’t another class to go to.

State Rep. Barbara Freiberg, R-Baton Rouge, said the teacher’s rights would have to be limited in that case out of respect for the child. Crews said he would encourage the teacher and students to find a new name that is gender neutral or another way to make the teacher more comfortable.

Advocates talked about how they feel the bill directly targets the small group of transgender and nonbinary children in the state who are a vulnerable population.

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“Trans and LGBTQIA children commit suicide at a higher rate than other teens. And I see this, this fact thrown about rather loosely, but it’s not because of who they are. It’s because these types of laws and discrimination encourages others to harass and bully them,” said Jamie Segura of St. Tammany.

Both of these bills have been brought in the previous administration and were vetoed by Gov. John Bel Edwards. Gov. Jeff Landry put in cards in support for the bills, so if they pass in both chambers, he is promised to sign them.

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