- Georgia state Sen. Carden Summers has proposed a new version of a previously failed bill that would regulate how public and private schools teach gender.
- If passed, teachers would not be able to discuss gender identity with students under 16 years old unless they receive parental permission.
- Opponents of the Georgia proposal said the measure attacks LGBTQ+ students.
A Georgia state senator is trying to revive a proposal aimed at stopping teachers from talking to students about gender identity without parental permission, but both gay rights groups and some religious conservatives remain opposed to the bill.
That combined opposition was fatal to Senate Bill 222 in the regular session earlier this year.
Supporters of the bill say the new version they unveiled at a Wednesday hearing of the Senate Education and Youth Committee was more narrow.
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“All we’re simply saying is that if you’re going to talk gender to a child under 16 years old, you need to talk to the parent,” said Sen. Carden Summers, the Cordele Republican sponsoring the bill.
But opponents say little has changed. Liberals say it remains a thinly veiled attack on LGBTQ+ students, while conservatives say the law is a flawed and unwise attempt to regulate private schools.
“There have always been and always will be students who identify as transgender, or whose own sense of gender identity doesn’t fit neatly into a specific binary box,” said Jeff Graham, the executive director of LGBTQ+ advocacy group Georgia Equality. “This legislation will only add to the stigma they face and make their lives more challenging and difficult.”
Opponents have said the measure is a Georgia version of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill aimed at handcuffing teachers from discussing or even acknowledging a student’s sexuality. Summers denies that is the case.
“It is not a ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill. It is not,” Summers said Wednesday.
Under…
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