A controversial anti-LGBTQ+ bill that limits the names and titles transgender and nonbinary students can use in K–12 schools was passed by the Louisiana Senate on Wednesday. This is the last step before it becomes law.
Rep. Raymond Crews’s House Bill 121, which is based in Bossier City, says that transgender and nonbinary students’ chosen names and pronouns can’t be used in K–12 public schools without approval from their parents. A vote of 27-9 meant that the bill was passed. Democratic Sen. Katrina Jackson-Andrews of Monroe joined Republicans in backing it.
Crews’ bill says that teachers and other school staff must use a student’s given name and gender that match their birth sex unless the student’s parents permit to use a different name. The bill has been called a “parental rights” bill, but it also lets a teacher refuse to use a transgender student’s chosen name and pronouns if the teacher has a religious objection.
The Senate changed the bill to say that a student’s legal name is “a person’s name as may be evidenced on his original birth certificate issued at or near the time of birth.” This means that a teacher who has a religious objection could refuse to use a transgender student’s name and pronouns, even if the student legally changes their name on their birth certificate.
“By requiring unfair practices in our schools, this law not only takes away the basic rights of transgender students, but it also creates an atmosphere of fear and exclusion,” said Peyton Rose Michelle, executive director of Louisiana Trans Advocates. “Louisiana should have laws that protect the rights of its young people, not ones that hurt their pride.”
It was talked about that Crews’s bill supports family rights, but parents shouldn’t be able to get in the way of someone else’s religious rights.
Crews’ bill doesn’t make an exception for people who don’t want to name students by their wrong gender or dead name them. People use a transgender or nonbinary person’s birth name, also known as their “dead name,” without their permission. This is called “deadnaming.” When someone calls someone by a gender they don’t identify with, this is called misgendering.
The head of the LGBTQ+ rights group Forum for Equality, SarahJane Guidry, said when the bill was brought up in committee, “This bill is a grave violation of parental rights because it puts the moral objections of others ahead of the basic rights of transgender students to be recognized by their chosen names, pronouns, and identities.” “This law sets a bad example of unfair treatment of people.”
The bill says that parents can ask for a change in the classroom if their transgender or nonbinary child’s teacher doesn’t let them use their name or pronouns, but it doesn’t require the change to happen. Some people have said that moving classrooms might not be possible in smaller schools.
Crews want parents to be able to find out if their children are transgender. This is what his plan is all about. Supporters of the LGBTQ+ community say that the bill would make transgender teens and young adults tell their parents about their identity or else they would be called names and misgendered at school. They are worried about what will happen if the parents find out and don’t like it.
The Trevor Project did a survey and found that 38% of transgender women, 39% of transgender men, and 35% of nonbinary kids have been homeless because their parents didn’t accept them.
When asked if he thought the bill would hurt transgender kids, Sen. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport, who was in charge of moving it through the Senate, said he thought it would help them.
Seabaugh said, “If they’re a man and want to be called a’she,’ there must be something wrong with them. Just call them a ‘he.'”
Seabaugh also said that the bill would stop bullying because he thinks that a transgender student is more likely to be bullied if they identify with a gender other than the one they were given at birth.
The Senate changed Crews’ bill, so it needs to go back to the House of Representatives for another vote. It is expected to pass this time. Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, backs the bill.
