Texas lawmakers discussing bill to ban textbooks teaching LGBT topics to students below ninth grade
Brady Knox
Texas lawmakers introduced a bill to the state legislature that would ban textbooks teaching sexual and LGBT topics to students below the ninth grade.
House Bill 1804, introduced by state GOP Rep. Terri Leo-Wilson, would allow the state Board of Education to reject textbooks that teach content on sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation. The policy would only regard textbooks read by those below the ninth grade. The wide-ranging bill would also require textbooks to teach U.S. history in a positive light and forbid those that “encourage lifestyles that deviate from generally accepted standards of society.”
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Fellow state GOP Rep. Terri Leo-Wilson praised the bill as necessary to return power to parents in raising their children.
“It is imperative that we empower parents and their elected voices rather than textbook publishers in regards to the content of our children’s textbooks. @cvasut did a remarkable job laying out HB 1804,” she tweeted.
Video Embed https://twitter.com/TerriLeoWilson/status/1649240643330359298?s=20
The bill is the latest in a slew targeting the teaching of sexual and LGBT content in schools. Several bills have been introduced or passed recently targeting sexually explicit books in school libraries.
HB 1804 also put a considerable focus on looking to teach history in a balanced manner. It urges schoolteachers to only include violence in the “context of the causes and consequences of the violence and not for unwholesome excitement or sensationalism.”
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It also calls to “present contrasting points of view regarding significant political or social movements in history in a balanced and factual manner” and to ban “selections or works that condone civil disorder, social strife, or disregard for the law.”
Another section is devoted to prejudice, asking that textbooks “treat all groups fairly and avoid biases or stereotypes regarding any particular individual, group, or type of work to reflect the positive contributions of all individuals and groups to the American way of life.” Likewise, offensive language and harmful stereotypes in educational material are banned.