Louisiana Bill Would Ban K-12 Classroom Discussion of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity

New Louisiana legislation would ban public school teachers and personnel from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity with students from kindergarten through the end of high school.

That’s not all. Republican Louisiana state Rep. Dodie Horton’s HB 466 would also prevent teachers from discussing their own sexual orientation or gender identity with students or using pronouns for a student that differ from the pronouns that “reflect the sex indicated on the student’s birth certificate.”

If the parents provide written permission, school employees could use pronouns for a student that differ from the pronouns on their birth certificate.

HB 466 passed out of Louisiana’s House Education Committee on a 7-5 vote on Wednesday, Horton said in a phone interview Wednesday afternoon. It now heads to the House for debate.

“It is important to be able to protect our children while they’re in the classroom and from those who wish to push their ideology on them,” she said. “Our children are our greatest commodity, and the world is fighting over them. We must be able to assure our parents that when they drop their children off at our public schools, their children are going to be taught the approved state standard class curriculum and [teachers will] not deviate [from] that and infringe on parental rights in sharing their own philosophy of life with the student.”

Most teachers respect parental rights, Horton said. They are there for the child. But with this growing trend of teachers pushing ideology on children, “we must do all we can to protect them.”

Horton believes Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, would veto the legislation if it reaches his desk. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Signal.

“If it does, we have a supermajority in the House and the Senate, and I pray that people will be bold enough and courageous enough to override a veto,” she said.

Critics have already labelled it “Don’t Say Gay,” Horton told The Daily Signal, comparing it to Florida’s controversial legislation. On Wednesday, Planned Parenthood of the Gulf Coast warned: “This is a Don’t Say Gay bill that would prohibit educators from discussing sexual orientation in the classroom.”

Polling conducted by outlets like The Daily Wire and Politico shows that most Americans don’t want gender identity being taught in schools.

Florida’s Parental Rights in Education (HB 1557) also bans classroom discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation for little children. Media and activists who labelled the bill “Don’t Say Gay” most notably took issue with the law’s statement that “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

Kindergarten students are typically about 5 years old. Third graders are typically 8 or 9 years old.

The legislation, which Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in March 2022, never even mentions the word gay. It does mention the word parent 32 times.

Asked if she conferred with Florida legislators on HB 466, Horton said that she had spoken with DeSantis himself about the bill a few months ago. At the time, she said, she questioned the Florida governor about why HB 1577 stopped at the third grade.

Florida’s Board of Education recently expanded HB 1557 to ban discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity through all grades.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/04/26/louisiana-bill-would-ban-k-12-classroom-discussion-of-sexual-orientation-gender-identity

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Villanova Students Required to Read Graphic Trans Sex Scene Between Minors

An English seminar class at Villanova University reportedly required students to read a play depicting a graphic sex scene between minors, one of whom identifies as transgender.

Jennifer Joyce teaches the Core Literature and Writing Seminar Class at Villanova, ENG 1975-020, titled Narratives of Belonging in Contemporary Irish Literature. The specific class is one of several options for students who are required to take the core seminar, though students may be forced to take the class if the other class options have been filled.

On Tuesday, Joyce led discussions of the play “Scorch” by Stacey Gregg. “Scorch” is inspired by stories of biological women in the United Kingdom who tricked other women into having sex with them by pretending to be men. Examples include Fiona Manson, who now goes by Kyran Lee, charged with assault by penetration for having sex with another woman while pretending to be a man, as well as Gayle Newland, sentenced to eight years in prison for pretending to be a man in order to dupe her friend into having sex with her.

“Scorch” takes the side of the woman doing the duping.

“The reading was mandatory because there was a quiz on it, so if you did not do the reading, you would have failed the quiz in class,” a female student who is taking the class told The Daily Signal. “Further, the discussion in class labeled everyone who did not understand what the main character ‘Kes’ was going through as homophobic or transphobic.”

The student, who asked to remain anonymous since the class is currently still in session, said the play contains a sex scene between two minors who are 17 and 15. Both of the minors (Kes and Jules) are biologically female and met on a dating app, she said, but Jules thinks that Kes is a boy. Kes’ character is reportedly “confused” about her gender identity and deciding whether or not to transition to attempt to become a boy.

When the sex scene takes place, Jules is apparently unaware that she is having a sexual encounter with a biological female.

“I was visibly uncomfortable throughout the whole discussion as the teacher offered no opportunity for dissent and was oblivious to the members of the class who were clearly [made] uncomfortable by this transgender sex scene,” the student told The Daily Signal.

“Even the most liberal members of the class did not know which pronouns to use to describe the main character of the play because the main character is a girl who is clearly lesbian and hasn’t undergone a transition yet, but goes to a transgender support group where they talk the character into using terms like ‘agender,’ ‘gender fluid,’ etc., etc. and convince her it is a good thing to transition,” the female student explained.

The Daily Signal spoke with this student following a report from The Daily Caller’s Sarah Weaver that Villanova had removed a number of gender identity terms from its housing application. The move came after The Daily Caller reached out to the university asking why it included the gender options, such as “two-spirit,” “gender fluid,” and “gender queer.”

Villanova told The Daily Caller that the initial options were provided by an “outside vendor,” and its housing application form now offers only three gender options for students: male, female, and “nonbinary,” terms reportedly consistent with those on the Common Application.

“The latest version of the housing application included a more comprehensive list of gender identity options than Villanova typically uses; this default list was provided by an outside vendor and has since been updated,” the school said.

“The Office of Residence Life is committed to ensuring every student feels comfortable and welcome in their on-campus housing situation. As part of our Augustinian values of Veritas, Unitas, Caritas—Truth, Unity and Love—Villanova seeks to be a welcoming and inclusive community that respects members of all backgrounds, identities and faiths.”

The female student who spoke with The Daily Signal said that she feels like she has been “slowly going insane” as she strives to get a good grade in Joyce’s class, believing that she must emphasize themes of sexism in order to please her instructor.

“The whole class is about identity, I feel like my identity is being shredded here, because I kind of have no choice. I feel like I’m slowly losing my soul,” she said, describing her experience in the class as being “gaslit, 24/7.”

“And also, I’m at a Catholic school where my parents paid so much money to send me, and the fact that this is being taught in a Catholic school is probably the most frustrating part,” she added.

Villanova is, in fact, known as a private, Catholic university, but it is unclear how faithful to Catholicism the institution actually is. As The Daily Caller reported, it boasts of so-called anti-racist and diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings as well as uses “gender inclusive” practices in language and curriculum.

It is not among the Catholic colleges promoted by The Cardinal Newman Society, an organization which advocates for solidly faithful Catholic education. Many thousands of Catholic families reference the Newman Guide when deciding where to send their children for college.

“An authentic Catholic university is devoted to the truth of Catholic teaching, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church does not recognize a ‘nonbinary’ gender,” Patrick Reilly, president and founder of The Cardinal Newman Society, told The Daily Signal. “The complementary of men and women is essential to Christian anthropology and marriage.”

“Yes, a Catholic university should welcome students who struggle with error and seek the truth,” he added, “but a university that willingly compromises truth is worthless and even dangerous.”

https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/04/27/exclusive-villanova-students-required-read-graphic-trans-sex-scene-between-minors

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University of Queensland forced to apologise over ‘white privilege’ medical assignment

The University of Queensland has been forced to apologise and scrap the results of a controversial “white privilege” medical assignment after students feared they could be expelled for failing.

First year UQ medical students had been asked to write about their own “white privilege” and institutional racism in a two-part assignment.

The Sunday Mail understands when students received their grades last week the majority of the cohort received a fail mark.

One medical student told The Sunday Mail, on the condition of anonymity, they believed the ones who had passed had effectively lied about admitting to being racist.

“The people who did well have frankly lied, they played into the notion that they’re racist, even if they’re not,” they said.

Following backlash from the medical cohort, the prestigious university has been forced to apologise and remove the results of the assignment from end-of-year grades.

Prior to the decision, students had been concerned that the university was at liberty to expel them from the program if they failed.

The medical student said that the passing grade on the assignment was required for an overall passing grade of the year.

The student said the cohort had feared that a fail on this subject could be the difference between getting an overall high distinction or a distinction which could impact postgraduate employment.

“UQ has a very good reputation internationally but students with all As in assignments are looked at better than B,” they said prior to UQ’s announcement. “You could be the best doctor in the world but fail on this.”

A UQ spokeswoman said there was no suggestion that students could be expelled for failing the assignment as the university took a “whole of approach” to progression.

The spokeswoman did not respond to questions about how many students failed the exam.

A leaked email from UQ’s dean of medical school Professor Stuart Carney to students, seen by the Sunday Mail, confirmed the results of the assignment had been removed from the final component.

https://www.couriermail.com.au/queensland-education/tertiary/university-of-queensland-forced-to-apologise-over-white-privilege-medical-assignment/news-story/2de6446af795430dfad22f718b7a9c8e

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