Following the lead of other Republican-led states, North Carolina lawmakers proposed a bill Tuesday that would ban teachers from talking about gender or sexuality in early elementary school grades, and could force school employees to out LGBTQ students to their parents.
Critics in other states have called similar bills “Don’t say gay” rules and accused their backers of homophobic intentions, but Republicans have defended the changes as being pro-parent, and not anti-gay.
“It has no place in the K-3 curriculum,” said Sen. Deanna Ballard of Watauga County, the bill’s lead sponsor.
The bill faces the potential of a veto from Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, but it could lead lawmakers to stake out positions ahead of the November elections on what they would do if voters give them more control.
In addition to banning teachers up through third grade from talking about LGBTQ issues in any context, the bill would also require that if students in any grade tell teachers or counselors about issues related to their gender or sexuality — or about anything else related to their “mental, emotional or physical health or well-being” — then the school employees would not be allowed to keep it a secret if the parents asked.
Senate leader Phil Berger said he was not swayed by concerns that it might be harmful to LGBTQ students to out them against their will, saying parents have a right to know.
“If my child asked a question about something like that, I think I would want to know about it,” he said. “And I think it would be incumbent upon the school to notify a parent that those are the kinds of inquiries that a child is making.”
There are also provisions in the bill letting parents have more access to their kids’ textbooks, classroom curricula and more.
Berger said much of the bill was inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic, when remote schooling led to parents across the state getting a closer look at their kids’ day-to-day schooling. The goal, he said, is to keep up transparency even as schools are back in person.
“It opened their eyes in a lot of ways,” Berger said. “Parents want to be involved in their children’s education.”
