Where are the Don't Say Gay Laws?

Hello everyone! We had a lovely, beautiful snow storm this past weekend; which also means a lot of shoveling! This week, I want to talk about the Don’t Say Gay laws. These are a group of laws which limit the discussion of LGBTQIA+ issues, mostly in schools. These laws look different in each state, but the main idea is that they are preventing conversations about healthy sexual orientation and gender identity and expression growth. Below is a map from the Movement Advancement Project on where the laws have been passed. This is leading to issues such as schools closing Gay-Straight Alliances, further isolating LGBTQIA+ youth by taking away safe spaces.

These laws sometimes look slightly different, but they all aim to do the same thing; to hide queer people from public spaces. Some of these laws are older and are still on the books, while others are newer laws which are part of the recent anti-LGBTQIA+ movement. To better understand these laws, below is a list of every law and a quick description of what they do. For many of the states, I have linked to the law in the state if you are interested in reading it:

• Alabama: Along with banning transgender people from using the bathroom that connects with their gender identity, HB322 banned discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in public elementary schools.

• Arkansas: As part of a large education law, Arkansas bans discussions of “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” before the fourth grade.

• Arizona: Would require parental approval for “discussion of sexual issues in other classes” besides sex ed. This means discussions of LGBTQIA+ history would require parental consent.

• Florida: One of the epicenters of anti-LGBTQIA+ laws, there have been several laws passed to bully the LGBTQIA+ community. Florida has a list of laws which impact the educational opportunity of LGBTQIA+, including prohibiting instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity and expression at all grades. They also have laws expediting book bans and limiting the use of preferred pronouns for students.

• Indiana: HB 1605 prevents the discussion of human sexuality (not very well defined) through the third grade as well forced outing of children who want to go by different pronouns.

• Iowa: Bans school books with “depictions of sexual acts”, prohibits teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity before 7th grade, parents need to be notified if children want to change their pronouns, enshrines the rights of parents to make decisions about their children.

• Kentucky: Two recently passed bills, SB5 & SB150. SB5 focuses on requiring school districts to create a complaint response policy for parents who complain about books which are “harmful to minors”. SB150, which is the more complicated of the bills, means that schools need to provide the “best accommodations” to those who do not identify with their own gender, but those who identify as transgender cannot use the bathrooms and changing facilities of their gender identity. It also provides parents an opt out around teaching of human sexuality, encourages abstinence-only education, and prohibits the discussion of human sexuality before grade 6. Schools are not allowed to teach about gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation. Below is an explanation from the Kentucky Board of Education (linked above):

  

• North Carolina: SB49 bans curriculum from K-4 on gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality. It also requires schools to inform parents if students go by different names or pronouns, effectively outing them.

• Louisiana: This is an older law from the 1980s that restricts the use of materials depicting male and female homosexuality in sex education.

• Mississippi: This is another older law from the 80s which restricts health education to abstinence-only and restricts the discussion of homosexuality in sex education.

• Tennessee: This law requires parents to opt-in for children to learn about LGBTQIA+ issues in school, instead of the traditional opt-out.

• Texas: This is, again, a relatively older law which requires a focus on abstinence education and calls homosexuality unacceptable. It also refers to homosexuality as illegal, as this law has not been updated since sodomy laws were ruled unconstitutional in Lawrence v. Texas. The full text of the law can be found below:

  

  I hope this is helpful in understanding the current landscape. Although this is not an end-all be-all, it should provide some context into the realities of the education system across the United States at this scary moment.