Director of Content and Engagement, Commonwealth Policy Center

Kentucky lawmakers are promoting legislation that would circumvent parental rights in favor of the LGBTQ agenda. HB 296, filed by Lisa Wilner (D-Louisville), would mandate schools to provide “age-appropriate” sex education to children in kindergarten-12th grade.  But what is age-appropriate sex education? The vague verbiage in the bill is intentional and aims to give the power of interpretation to superintendents and teachers. According to the conglomerate of Lexington and Louisville Democrats “age-appropriate” means requiring every student, starting at age six (the average age of a kindergartener) to attend sex-ed classes focused on affirming and encouraging LGBTQ+ identities. Not only would these children be required to attend the classes, but in the event that their parents write a letter to the school and the child is removed from the classroom during the pro-LGBTQ+ portions, the bill encourages teachers to provide a substitute assignment to the child on “a related topic.”

This bill reveals a strategy that has been perpetuated by the LGBTQ+ agenda, to teach kids that being LGBTQ+ is a fundamentally good alternative to traditional sex and gender roles. The bill is an attempt to indoctrinate children early rather than trying to persuade them later in life. California passed a similar law in 2013 that required teachers to call their students by their chosen names and pronouns in school, but it also required them to hide such interactions from the student’s parents unless they had the student’s permission. The bill provides for the purposeful deception of the parents of these students, while instilling values parents may object to. Legislation like this has not just spread, it has evolved beyond the law. The Madison, Wisconsin school district enacted this policy without legislative action in 2018 and is facing a lawsuit from parents who believe their parental rights have been trampled.

The law’s wording seemingly leaves room for other controversial topics to enter the classroom as well such as abortion, Planned Parenthood, and any other sexual topic deemed “culturally appropriate” without parental input. Those enacting this strategy are bypassing parents’ right to raise their children on the foundational definitions of sex and gender. While a wiser consensus seems to be rejecting these efforts, the California-style social engineering appears to be making inroads into the commonwealth.

The full bill can be viewed here: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/20RS/hb296/orig_bill.pdf