Texas lawmaker wants to force teachers to ‘out’ LGBT students to parents
A Senator in Texas has filed legislation that would force public school employees to expose the sexuality and gender identity of LGBT students to their parents.
State Senator Konni Burton’s Bill 242 would see teachers and other school employees disciplined if they withheld information regarding a student’s sexual orientation or gender expression, reports The New Civil Rights Movement.
Under SB 242, parents would be entitled to “any general knowledge regarding the parent’s child possessed by an employee of the district.”
The legislation, if passed, may put many LGBT young people at risk of danger within the conservative state.
Posting on her website, Republican Burton wrote of SB 242: “I am planning to file a bill that rewrites these provisions to make it unequivocally clear that a parent has a right to full and total information on their child’s academic performance, physical, mental and emotional health, and more.
“Further, my legislation will make it expressly against state law for a district to adopt policies designed to undermine a parent’s right to know. No parent in Texas should ever have to fight for the basic right to matter in their child’s life again.”
Republican Burton stated on her website that SB 242 was a response to transgender guidelines adopted within the Forth Worth school district; rules which when originally written prevented staff from disclosing students’ transgender status to family members, but were later changed after a campaign by Lt. Governor of Texas Dan Patrick.
As an ally of Patrick’s, Burton aims to ensure that Texan parents are given full access to their child’s personal information, even if the young people have asked the information to be kept confidential.
Burton’s bill is among dozens of anti-LGBT measures expected to be considered by the Texas Legislature when it convenes in January.
