Eight Democrats voted with Republicans on bill that could out trans students
Teachers could be forced to out trans students (Getty)
Eight Democrats voted with Republicans to help pass a bill that could force teachers to out transgender students to their parents and ban the acknowledgement of trans identities in school settings.
HR 2616, also known as the ‘Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act’, was passed in the House of Representatives on 20 May.
If approved by the Senate and signed into law by Donald Trump, it would prohibit any school that receives federal funding from teaching “concepts related to gender ideology”, effectively ban state-funded schools across the United States from acknowledging the existence of trans people.
The House Equality Caucus has dubbed the bill the ‘Don’t Say Trans’ bill. Additionally, HR 2616 would also force teachers to notify parents and caregivers if students identified as trans at school.
All 209 Republicans who voted supported the bill, while 198 out of 206 Democrats voted against it, as reported by The Advocate.
The eight Democrats that supported the measure include: Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Rep. Don Davis of North Carolina, Rep. Cleo Fields of Louisiana, Rep. Laura Gillen of New York, Rep. Vicente González of Texas, Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Rep. Eugene Vindman of Virginia.
Notably, Rep Vindman previously spoke about the importance of LGBTQ+ inclusion, so his vote in favour of the measure has caused some raised eyebrows.
In a statement posted online, the National Director for Policy & Government Affairs for the American Civil Liberties Union, Mike Zamore, condemned the bill.
“Every child in this country deserves the same opportunity to thrive as their peers, and that includes transgender students,” he said.
“Instead of strengthening that basic promise for all students, a narrow majority of the House opted to single out and endanger some of the most vulnerable youth in our schools today.”
He went on to say that the bill “doesn’t create a safe learning environment for anyone.”
“But it does inject politics into every classroom across the country, which harms education for all students,” Zamore continued. “Censorship and discrimination have no place in our schools, and we call on the Senate to reject this bill.”
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