Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) unveiled a resolution Friday demanding “equal educational opportunity, basic civil rights protections, and freedom from erasure” for LGBTQ students.
The resolution, which has 17 Democratic co-sponsors, supports the objectives of the Rise Up for LGBTQI+ Youth in Schools Initiative, which advocates for LGBTQ-inclusive education policies and curriculum.
“As a former teacher, I know that school shouldn’t be about just surviving — it should be about thriving,” Takano said Friday. “LGBTQ students across the country who are being targeted by this wave of culture war politics are being denied safety in the educational institutions that are supposed to support them.”
More than 480 bills targeting LGBTQ people have been introduced in state legislatures this year, according to the ACLU, including at least 192 bills that explicitly threaten the rights of LGBTQ students and teachers. A Washington Post analysis in March found that school hate crimes targeting LGBTQ people rose sharply in 2021 and 2022, climbing fastest in states that have passed restrictive education laws.
Legislation seeking to restrict talk of sexuality and gender identity in the classroom and ban certain books from schools and public libraries has picked up steam in recent years, particularly among Republicans.
Such laws often disproportionately impact LGBTQ people: Seven of the top 10 most challenged library books in 2023 have LGBTQ themes or characters, the American Library Association said this week.
In September, Senate Republicans read passages from books with sexual content into the record to defend banning certain titles from schools. Among them was Maia Kobabe’s “Gender Queer,” which the author has said is not meant for young children.
In a December fundraising email, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said an increase in the number of young people who openly identify as “something other than straight” makes him worry what students are being taught in school.
Schatz, the resolution’s lone sponsor in the Senate, said Friday any discrimination against LGBTQ students “will not be tolerated in Congress.”
“Every child should feel safe at school,” he said.