Republicans in the House passed the Parents Bill of Rights on Friday despite Democrats claiming the bill was “fascist” and “extreme.”
The bill would require school districts to give parents access to curriculum and reading lists and would be required to inform parents if staff at a school began encouraging or promoting their child’s gender transition.
“This Republican bill is asking the government to force the outing of LGBT people before they are ready,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), argued on the House floor. “When we talk about progressive values, I can say what my progressive value is, and that is freedom over fascism.”
Someone bring smelling salts for AOC before she faints.
Exclusively for our VIPs: Kamala’s Husband Compares Parents Speaking at School Board Meetings to Nazis
In fact, the bill does not “out” anyone.
“The bill does not address a student’s identity or statements, but is solely focused on notifying parents about actions taken by school personnel to act on a gender transition, such as changing pronouns or switching locker rooms,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., who chairs the Committee on Education & the Workforce.
And I wonder if AOC understands what “fascism” means? Not that it would matter to her. “Fascism,” like “racism,” has become a “scare word” Democrats use interchangeably depending on the audience they’re targeting.
The bill says parents have “the right to know if a school employee or contractor acts to… change a minor child’s gender markers, pronouns, or preferred name; or… allow a child to change the child’s sex-based accommodations, including locker rooms or bathrooms.”
Democrats also accused Republicans of trying to make it easier to ban books at school, and several Democrats said Republicans are looking to ban books across the country on a range of topics.
“Extreme MAGA Republicans don’t want the children of America to learn about the Holocaust,” accused House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. “They want to ban a book called ‘Melissa,’ a book describing, in very personal terms, the experience of a trans girl beginning to understand her identity.”
So Republicans want to ban books on the Holocaust? The book in question — Maus — a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust, was banned by one Tennessee school district because of obscene language.
Frankly, it’s idiotic to say the Republican Party wants to prevent kids from learning about the Holocaust because one book aimed at older children was banned in one school district.
But no one has ever accused Jefferies of being the brightest bulb in Congress.
“Nowhere in this bill is it banning any books,” asserted Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., who said the goal of the language is to make sure parents are aware of sexually explicit books in school libraries.
Norman and others also argued that the books under attack in some states and communities are those that include explicit sexual content that they say is not appropriate for certain ages and is not a core educational requirement. Norman cited books that talk about kids who are “sexually active from the time I was 6,” or that include “explicit images of oral sex.”
“Parents, is this something you want your children to read?” Norman asked. “Parents, is this something that encourages academics and allows that child to compete in the 21st century?”
The bill would also force school districts to inform parents “if there are plans to eliminate gifted-and-talented programs for kids, alert them to any violent activity taking place at school and give them the right to speak at school board meetings.”
Damn those fascist Republicans. When will they ever learn?
Join the conversation as a VIP Member