This story was originally published by the Buckeye Flame and is republished here with permission.
Several heated exchanges characterized the fourth hearing of “The Parents’ Bill of Rights” in the Ohio Statehouse Tuesday.
Ohio House Bill (HB) 8 would force all Ohio public school teachers and school staff — including school social workers, counselors and school psychologists — to out LGBTQ+ students to their parents or legal guardians, regardless of suspected anti-LGBTQ+ abuse in the home.
The bill also requires parent or guardian notification with regard to any LGBTQ+ representation present in the K-12 curriculum. This could include depictions of same-sex parents in children’s books, a student’s show-and-tell of a napkin from their sibling’s same-sex wedding or the screening of a new Disney movie .
Altering passing the Ohio House of Representatives in June, HB 8 now sits in the Senate Education Committee .
Heated exchanges occurred solely between witnesses and Chair Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware) , who repeatedly asserted that the bill would not do what opponents said the bill would do.
Here are eight of the most memorable quotes (and exchanges) from Tuesday’s hearing:
“Between anti-LGBTQ bills HB 8, HB 68, SB 83 and HB 183, the General Assembly has received 1,846 pieces of official testimony. Of that testimony, only 118 testimonies wanted these bills. 52 were merely interested; 1676 testimonies strongly opposed these bills.
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That’s 6% who agree with your way of thinking. Three percent are merely interested; 91% think these bills are a waste of taxpayers' time, harmful to our economy and a threat to our personal freedom to choose how we want to live, teach our kids and love one another.”
-Jeanne Ogden, mother of a trans daughter and the co-founder of Trans Allies of Ohio —
“This bill instructs professionals working in school districts to violate ethics and confidentiality standards outlined by their own licensing bodies and puts them in an ethical and legal conundrum if they have legitimate concerns about a child’s safety.” - Maria Bruno, Equality Ohio
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“These new regulations would risk disrupting the therapeutic process and interrupting clinical progress by circumventing our clients' right and desires to privacy. Especially if the student is sharing sensitive information, such as exploration of or changes in gender identity or sexuality, it can be a great danger to a student if we become mandated by law to share that information with a parent when the student is not ready.” -Liam Strausbaugh, National Association of Social Workers – Ohio Chapter
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“HB 8 is also seeking to codify harassment that is in violation of new Title IX regulations. By requiring forced outings of students, Ohio schools will be implementing hostile environment harassment as well as sex-based harassment, both of which are prohibited by federal Title IX regulations." -Strausbaugh, on the new Title IX regulations put forth by the Biden administration
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" BRENNER : You said forced outing. I don’t see in this particular bill where that could happen. Where in this bill would this happen?
STRAUSBAUGH : Where it says that if a student’s gender identity differs from their biological sex, it must be reported to a parent.
BRENNER :
But if they’re already going by that, they would have to have already have to have been saying that, would they not have?
STRAUSBAUGH :
It’s possible that children are out to friends or to specific staff members at school, but not to their parents.
BRENNER : Basically this is saying that you can’t be talking behind a parent’s back on stuff. Why is that not good public policy? You’re indicating that it’s not good public policy, but the parents are the ones who are raising these kids. The parents are the ones that brought them into the world. They are basically responsible for them … I’m still baffled by the position that you and others are making that this is something that is detrimental to kids.
STRAUSBAUGH :
Because a student shares something in confidentiality to their mental health practitioner that they specifically say, ‘Hey, I do want my parents to know about this, but I’m not ready for them to know it. I want to work through ways we could tell them together or I want to learn some new coping skills before I talk to them about this because I’m not sure how they’re going to react.’ By going behind that student’s back and saying, ‘By the way, parent, your kid just said so-and-so,’ that kid is not going to trust that mental health practitioner again. They are not going to share anything else with that professional.
BRENNER :
Where does it say mental health professional in here? Because I don’t see that in the bill being addressed. If a student is going to a mental health professional, they have certain confidentialities they have to share as well.
STRAUSBAUGH :
Because there are mental health professionals in schools, so if this bill applies to any school staff, that applies to any mental health professionals in schools.
BRENNER : I don’t believe that mental health professionals are part of the school. They are sub-contracted.
STRAUSBAUGH: Not always." -
Strausbaugh and Chair Brenner on the new Title IX regulations put forth by the Biden administration —
“From pre-K on, students learn about different family structures; middle school students make family trees — these are all integrated parts of the curriculum. LGBTQIA+ families exist in just by virtue of existing in schools as members of the community. So as a parent of an Ohio public school student, I say very clearly: Trans people and LGBTQIA+ people belong in the curriculum.”
-Dara Adkison, TransOhio —
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BRENNER : Where in this bill does it stop your kids from going by what they want to go by?
ADKISON : As a parent who is transgender, my child is not transgender. In a pre-K classroom, students are discussing families like younger students do in the curriculum. The amended bill does remove sexuality and gender identity in the curriculum K-3. When kids discuss their families, how are children who have queer parents supposed to discuss their families when that is not supposed to be a topic mentioned?
BRENNER : Why does it need to be mentioned in K-3?
ADKISON : Can a child say they have a mom and a dad right now?
BRENNER : Why can’t they say that?
ADKISON : Why can’t a child say they have two moms? Why is that less valid and needs to be legislated against?
BRENNER : Nobody is legislating against that.
ADKISON : That’s literally what HB 8 would do.
BRENNER : Literally?
ADKISON : Yes.
BRENNER : That’s not what it reads according to my…
ADKISON : If a child has queer parents, then they can’t discuss their families. But removing the ability to discuss gender identity and sexuality from primary school curriculum removes the ability of people who have queer families from discussing their families. And makes schools that are already accepting of really awesome families have to make some really hard decisions."
-Adkison and Chair Brenner on the new Title IX regulations put forth by the Biden administration —
“I care about every kid who attends school in Ohio.” - Troy McIntosh, executive director of the Ohio Christian Education Network (OCEN), a division of the Center for Christian Virtue (CCV) . OCEN champions “Gospel-centered principles” in their efforts to “equip Catholic and Evangelical schools to promote a biblical worldview.”
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