Editor's note: This story was updated at 4:39 p.m. to include a statement from Freedom Oklahoma and Rep. Mauree Turner.
Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that would bar conversations and instruction related to sex education, sexual orientation and gender identity in Oklahoma Public Schools.
House Bill 2546, written by House Majority Whip Rep. Terry O’Donnell (R-Catoosa) and Sen. Julie Daniels (R-Bartlesville), would be codified in a section of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes that pertains to sex education. The bill, which is roughly seven lines, would ban class instruction by school personnel or third parties about sexual orientation or gender identity for pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.
O’Donnell clarified during the debate Tuesday that instruction for sixth through 12th grade would need to be “age-appropriate.” He also said that it would require parents to “opt-in” for fourth and fifth grade level sex education about puberty.
O’Donnell said he never experienced sex education before the sixth grade and said “that’s the way it should be now.”
Fugate asks where in the bill is the language for “parental opt-ins.” O’Donnell says breezily that it’s within the spirit of the law. Here’s the bill: pic.twitter.com/40jtDwOfmv
— John Waldron (@waldron4ok) March 21, 2023
Rep. Amanda Swope (D-Tulsa) asked O’Donnell how teachers should address students who begin menstruating before the sixth grade, and he clarified they should defer to the parents if that situation arises.
Rep. Ellyn Hefner (D-Oklahoma City) also pressed that the House needed to consider all sides of the issue as some parents might be less equipped to have these conversations at home versus in the classroom.
“Schools are the place with the structure to teach these concepts,” Hefner said.
Rep. Mauree Turner (D-Oklahoma City) said they, along with other members of the House, see the bill as demonizing students and vilifying teachers, and it will discourage inclusivity for students of different sexual or gender identities.
Other House Democrats debated against the bill, saying it opens teachers up for litigation similar to House Bill 1775.
Several House Democrats and activists in Oklahoma said this bill is Oklahoma’s version of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill which bars conversations about sexual orientation and gender identity up until third grade.
House Minority Leader Rep. Cyndi Munson (D-Oklahoma City) said the bill directly impacts members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, including teachers, parents and students.
Freedom Oklahoma and Turner released a joint statement Tuesday afternoon, saying that teachers, doctors and families are leaving and will leave the state because of bills like this.
"HB 2546 stigmatizes and discriminates against 2SLGBTQ+ students by treating them differently than other students in the classroom. Other students are not subjected to the suggestion that something about their identity is inappropriate for classroom discussion, but under this law, 2SLGBTQ+ youth will be,” Turner wrote.
Nicole McAfee, executive director of Freedom Oklahoma, called the bill dangerous and continues to "chill" the state and teachers.
“HB 2546 hijacks public education for partisan political purposes, threatening the ability of schools to be places where all students are treated with respect, have access to safety, and receive equal access to a quality education," McAfee wrote. "Anti-2SLGBTQ+ curriculum laws perpetuate a stereotype of 2SLGBTQ+ people as a dangerous, immoral class of people from whom other students must be shielded."
HB 2546 passed 77-19 along party lines.
The bill will be referred for engrossment and sent to the Senate to consider.
This story was edited by Jazz Wolfe. Ansley Chambers copy edited this story.
