NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana legislature is discussing several bills that would impact the LGBTQ community.
Two of them made it out of committee Wednesday and are headed to the full House.
We’re going to start with House Bill 81, authored by Representative Raymond Crews of Bossier City.
It would require teachers to use the name and pronouns that align with students’ birth certificates unless they have written parental consent otherwise.
The bill states a teacher can still deny those wishes if using alternative pronouns for a student goes against their religious beliefs.
House Bill 466 goes one step further. The so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill was offered up by Representative Dodie Horton, also of Bossier Parish.
Like House Bill 81, it also forbids public school employees from using alternative pronouns for a student unless there is written consent from a parent. Even then, teachers can’t be forced to respect those wishes if it goes against their religious beliefs.
It would also prohibit any public school teacher in a K through 12 school from discussing any topic of sexual orientation or gender identity, including their own.
The bill faced lengthy testimony Wednesday, but it passed committee and will go to the house for a vote.
Advocates for these bills say they’re protecting children. The ACLU of Louisiana said it would open students up for censorship and discrimination.
LGBTQ activists are also raising alarm about House Bills 25, 102, and 360, which put restrictions on what materials minors can have access to in libraries.
And House bill 463 has been dubbed the “Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act” and bans all gender transition medical care for anyone under 18.
We’ll be diving deeper into those bills in future Breakdowns.
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