Ohio senators made changes to House Bill 8, known as the Parents' Bill of Rights, making the potential law controversial and dubbed the “Don't Tell Me I'm Gay” Act by opponents. It would be more consistent with Florida law.
Opponents say the bill forces students to stay with their parents and targets LGBTQ students or students with LGBTQ family members. Supporters say it gives parents power over their children.
House Bill 8 originally required schools to notify parents about sexually explicit learning materials, defined as descriptions or photos depicting sexual acts.
Parental rights bill becoming increasingly strict
The original bill also required schools to notify parents about the medical services provided. The law would prohibit school officials from encouraging students to share information about their health or welfare with their parents unless “disclosure would result in abuse, abandonment, or neglect.”
Republicans on the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee removed an exception for allegations of abuse or neglect. It also changed the wording of the bill from sexually explicit content to “sexual content,” which is defined as descriptions or depictions of sexual concepts or “gender ideologies.” This bill does not define gender ideology.
There are exceptions for education on the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, child sexual abuse, and sexual violence.
It also added language that explicitly requires students to inform their parents or guardians if they wish to “identify as a gender that does not correspond to their biological sex.”
The bill passed the Ohio House of Representatives 65-29 in June.
Does Ohio already require parental notification?
Current Ohio law requires schools to notify parents of any instruction that exceeds STD education standards. Parents can review their student's school's sex education materials upon request, and school districts are required to allow parents to review the curriculum.
School districts are also required to exempt students from sex education and assault prevention at the request of their parents.
controversial hearing
On April 23, the Senate Education Committee approved a bill that would ban sexually explicit curriculum for kindergarten through third grade and require parental consent for any physical or mental health care provided by schools. Approved the change. Florida Law.
Harley Rubin, a transgender graduate student at Case Western Reserve University, gave written testimony about how she regularly sought help from a school counselor after coming out in high school and being yelled at by her father. submitted.
Rubin told USA TODAY Network's Ohio bureau that he believes the bill would put students at risk.
“Not only does it under-educate children and limit what they can say in school, but it also endangers student safety, violates privacy, and creates barriers between students and school professionals.” It will be,” he said.
Committee chairman Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware) disagreed with this characterization during the hearing.
Six people testified about the bill at the public hearing. Five speakers opposed the bill and one spoke in favor.
Concerns about students being forced to go out
Liam Strausbaugh, president of the Ohio National Association of Social Workers, expressed concern that the bill could be inconsistent with the social worker code of conduct, which emphasizes the need for confidentiality and respect for client autonomy. .
“Requiring school staff to immediately report a child's innermost thoughts and feelings to parents can have a very negative impact on a child's therapeutic process, and could lead to a situation in which a young person does not have any concerns with support staff. “It would discourage people from sharing their information,” he said.
Mr. Brenner asked what part of the bill would facilitate the expulsion of students, and if a student is operating under a different name, would that mean they would already be expelled?
Rubin told USA TODAY Network's Ohio bureau that coming out to a counselor or teacher can mean coming out to your parents.
“You think, 'I know this person is accepting of people like me, so I'll give it a try. Then they can help me decide how to tell my parents.' “The important thing is not to keep something from parents, but to work on it and try to do it in a safe way,'' he said.
Troy McIntosh of the Center for Christian Virtue spoke in favor of the bill.
“Government officials cannot and should not be allowed to supersede parental authority on these particular topics. That's all this bill is about. This is not a 'don't tell me gay' bill. there is no. People want to associate it with that language, but that's not the case,” he said at the hearing.
Erin Glynn is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network's Ohio bureau, serving the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio..
