198 House Democrats voted against a bill on Wednesday requiring federally funded elementary and middle schools to get parental consent before changing a student’s pronouns, preferred name, or sex-based accommodations.
House Republicans passed the legislation, which was led by Committee on Education and Workforce Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Vice Chairman Burgess Owens (R-UT), in a bipartisan 217 to 198 vote.
Overall, 198 House Democrats opposed the measure, while eight crossed over to vote with 208 Republicans and Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-CA) in favor. The eight Democrats who crossed over to vote for the measure were Reps. Cleo Fields (D-LA), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Don Davis (D-NC), Laura Gillen (D-NY), Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), and Eugene Vindman (D-VA).
The bill, titled the Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act, would require parental consent to change a student’s gender markers, pronouns, preferred name, or sex-based accommodations, such as a locker room or a bathroom.
“These are enormously consequential decisions that have lasting impacts on a child’s well-being and development,” Walberg said on the House floor ahead of the vote. “Parents deserve to be part of those conversations.”
Walberg went on to say that “lack of transparency risks confusion, undermines trust, and weakens the essential partnership between families and schools.”
Under the legislation, all elementary and middle school grades, defined under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 as grades five through eight, would be included. High school education is not looped in.
The second part of the bill would also bar the use of federal funds to teach concepts related to gender ideology, a provision added that mirrors legislation previously introduced by Owens.
Democrats staunchly opposed the measure, with Education and Workforce Committee ranking member Bobby Scott (D-VA) decrying it as “federal coercion.”
“Parental involvement is important, and I support that, and it works in virtually all cases,” Scott said. “But this bill is not about involvement, it’s about federal coercion, forcing schools in a situation where they may have to disclose sensitive information about a student, even when they know it can put that child’s safety at risk.”
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Scott criticized the legislation as prohibiting “any discussion of transgender people or topics in the classroom, banning books with transgender characters, or even discuss the existence of transgender people.”
He continued, “It is well established in statute that states and districts determine what their curriculum is without interference from the federal government.”