North Carolina Lawmakers Bar Gender, Sexuality Lessons In K-4 Classrooms

The North Carolina Senate approved a bill Thursday that would prohibit lessons on gender identity and sexual orientation in K-4 classrooms.

Under Senate Bill 49, public school educators would be required to notify parents if their child has requested to change their name or pronouns. The bill passed both the state Senate and House in June, and now heads to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk where it is expected to be vetoed. (RELATED: Speakers At Little-Noticed Biden Admin Webinar Urged Teachers To Avoid Using ‘Girl’ And ‘Boy’ To Refer To Students)

“The whole point of the bill is that parents in North Carolina should be empowered to raise their children the way that they see fit in their family without being questioned or interrogated or undermined by the state of North Carolina,” Republican state Sen. Amy Galey told The Associated Press.

The bill requires that parents have access to their child’s school records and mandates schools to notify parents if criminal activity occurs on campus.

A similar measure, dubbed the “parental bill of rights” made it to Cooper’s desk in 2022, where it was vetoed, the AP reported. Republicans have the super-majority in both chambers if Cooper is to veto SB 49. 

“Queer people are here,” Democratic state Sen. Lisa Grafstein told the AP. “We’ve always been here. And most people have evolved as human beings to understand and accept this fact. What we’re seeing here is the last vestiges of efforts to erase the LGBTQ community.”

Throughout the country, parents and lawmakers are pushing to limit age-inappropriate lessons on sexuality and gender identity; in May, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a piece of legislation into law prohibiting lessons on gender identity and sexual orientation in PreK-8 classrooms. Shortly after, Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed legislation banning lessons on gender identity and sexual orientation from K-6 public and charter school classrooms.

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