The House Committee on Education recommended the passage of a bill that would prohibit the usage of preferred names and pronouns of students on Friday.
Senate Bill 76, also known as the Given Name Act, originated in the Senate and was passed Feb. 19 by a vote of 26-14. It was discussed during a House hearing last Tuesday and may soon be voted on by the entire House.
The House committee made multiple amendments to the bill. One amendment permits parents to file complaints about violations and requires boards of education to investigate and respond to the complaints.
Rep. Linda Featherston (D-Overland Park) said that she is not happy with this amendment because it still allows for lawsuits to be filed against teachers and schools.
“If you felt harmed by somebody using their proper pronouns near you, then you could go to like the school board,” Featherston said in an interview. “They did not rule out lawsuits, so anybody who says, ‘I think there won't be so many lawsuits now,’ they're telling themselves a story because there will be lawsuits.”
Proponents of the bill included Alliance Defending Freedom, Kansas Family Voice and Heritage Action America.
“Changing names and pronouns is the first step in the implementation of radical gender ideology, which eventually leads to life-altering drugs and irreversible medical experiments,” Catherine Gunsalus, the director of state advocacy for Heritage Action America, said in her testimony. “SB76 is a common-sense measure to protect children in Kansas and ensure that parents are in charge of the decision-making when it comes to the upbringing and education of their kids.”
Opponents of the bill included the ACLU of Kansas, Equality Kansas and Loud Light Civic Action. Parents, teachers and students also spoke out against the bill.
“Senate Bill 76 doesn’t make schools better learning environments for students. What it does is add government interference into things that educators and families are already figuring out together,” teacher Angie Powers from Olathe said in her testimony. “It adds more paperwork, more red tape, and more reasons for educators to be afraid of doing the wrong thing — not because they aren’t working with families, but because the rules keep shifting underneath them.”
