On the same day that the Florida Legislature passed its controversial Don’t Say Gay bill, a similar bill was tabled in the Georgia State Assembly.
A bill (SB 613) introduced by Georgia State Senator Carden Summers addresses both the teaching of “critical race theory” and the treatment of LGBTQ+ issues in the classroom.
In a single bill, the legislation narrows a variety of issues that Republican lawmakers have targeted in lawmakers across the country.
Regarding LGBTQ+ issues, the bill suggests that educators “have inappropriately discussed gender identity with children under judgmental age.”
“Such a focus on racial and gender identity and the resulting discrimination based on color, race, ethnicity and national origin is destructive to the fabric of American society,” the bill said.
If passed, the law would limit how such issues can be addressed by teachers.
“No private or non-public school or program to which this chapter applies shall encourage, compel, or encourage classroom discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary school or in a manner that is inappropriate for the age and developmental level of the student. “It says on the bill.
This is the language used in early drafts of Florida’s Don’t Say Gay bill. Before the legislature passed the law and sent it to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk, the language changed and applied only to “instruction,” not “discussion.” It also replaced the vague ban on material in ‘primary grades’, explicitly speaking from kindergarten through third grade, but retained the continued restriction that subjects should be ‘age appropriate’ at all grade levels.
It is noteworthy that Georgian legislation aims to regulate the curriculum in private institutions. The bill, dubbed the Common Humanity in Private Education Act, if passed, would apply to “any private or non-public school or program receiving state or federal funding,” as well as any school or program who participate in Georgia’s Special Needs Scholarship Program or in any athletic association with public schools.
Georgia State University law professor Anthony Michael Kreis told The Advocate that the language includes private and public schools, regardless of the bill’s name. He sees the language as part of a national effort by conservative Republicans to anger the grassroots.
“Just as with the recent anti-transaction actions in Texas, I have no doubt that this is a move designed to rally the GOP’s grassroots base ahead of the primary in a couple of weeks and again for the general election in November.” , he said.
The primary elections in Georgia will take place on April 24.
In addition to issues of sexual orientation and gender, the Georgia bill also addresses critical race theory.
“A growing number of private and non-public schools in Georgia have adopted curricula and programs based on critical theory,” the draft law reads. “In practice, these developments have resulted in private schools segregating students, staff and parents based on ethnicity, color, race and national origin; forcing students to adopt language and attitudes that promote racial segregation and discrimination; and to promote the concept that there is a hierarchy of oppressors and oppressed and that race, gender, sexual orientation, color or national origin irrevocably determine his or her place in that hierarchy.”
