ATLANTA — Tuesday, Georgia lawmakers heard from supporters and critics of a bill restricting how school teachers can talk with students about gender identity.
Critics view this as another bill from Georgia Republicans designed to appeal to voters who are unnerved by expanding expressions of sexual orientation.
Senate Bill 88 would prevent schools from recognizing a transitioned gender unless the gender is changed on a birth certificate. It would also restrict teachers from discussing gender identity with students unless the parents sign off on it first.
"We still live in a state where families put their children out of their homes when they come out as gay or as trans," said Kim Jackson, an LGBTQ senator, who is among those who say the Republican bill endangers children at home. Critics say it also endangers children mental health who haven’t fully wrangled their sexual identity.
"If anything, rising suicide rates among LGBTQ plus teens suggest compelling interest that educators need more resources for these students," Sarah Hunt-Blackwell of the Georgia ACLU told a Senate committee Tuesday.
"This can have quite frankly a deadly impact on children's lives," Sen. Jackson (D-Stone Mountain) said.
But the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Carden Summers (R-Cordele), says he introduced the bill to protect teachers and parents. "We hope people realize, we want these kids to talk to people. But we want them to have the professional talking. And teachers aren’t trained in general – math teachers aren’t trained in general to talk to your child about their gender," Summers said.
Summers said he’s looking at changing some of the bill’s language to accommodate some of its critics.
The senate committee took no vote on the bill.