Paxton, Texas GOP support of Florida ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law grows before legislative session

States “have a strong interest” in protecting parent rights, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued in a brief filed last month in support of Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law.

The amicus brief, filed by a coalition of 14 state attorneys general, led by Texas, defended Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act law which prohibits classroom instruction involving “sexual orientation or gender identity” through third grade, but some have challenged as harmful and vague.

Students, parents and teachers have challenged Florida’s law — passed in March 2022 — in federal court, arguing that it discriminates against the LGBTQ community and violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia recently signed on in support of the lawsuit, arguing the law is harmful and could have “severe negative health impacts on LGBTQ+ students.”

But Paxton and the other Republican attorneys general say the bill does not discriminate against the LGBTQ community and that states have authority to “govern curriculum for sensitive subjects for young children.”

It also signals the appetite lawmakers have in several states, including Texas, to replicate the Florida law.

Paxton’s brief is only the latest in a series of moves by Republican lawmakers and top state officials signaling an appetite for legislation that targets LGBTQ people and discussions about gender identity and sexual orientation within schools.

Both Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov Dan Patrick last year expressed interest in replicating Florida’s controversial law.

In November, Abbott alluded to his support for stopping what he called “indoctrination” in schools in response to a Fox News article about a Fort Worth teacher who reportedly came out to students and staff as nonbinary and discussed it with the middle schoolers.

“Our schools are for education, not indoctrination,” Abbott wrote and said that lawmakers would “put a stop to this nonsense” in the upcoming legislative session that begins Tuesday.

Abbott said schools must “stop pushing woke agendas,” a phrase conservatives have used to refer to the supposed teaching of critical race theory, gender fluidity and other culture wars topics in schools.

Patrick also emphasized copying Florida’s law and regulating school libraries during his bid for re-election campaign last year.

In an email sent by his campaign in April 2022, which began with criticism of Disney, Patrick wrote he was angry with the company. He said Disney pushed back against the Florida law, which he characterized as mandating that “schools cannot sexualize children in elementary school.”

After his reelection in November, Patrick laid out his priorities for the Senate. The priorities focus heavily on education, including a parental rights bill.

At least half a dozen bills addressing “parental rights” have already been filed ahead of the upcoming session. Among those are SB 176, by Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Wallisville, which would establish the “Texas Parental Empowerment Program” — a school voucher-like program — and HB 631, filed by Rep. Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, that seeks to cement parents’ rights to what information they are given about the children’s academic, mental, emotional and physical well-being.

Two other bills also require parental permission before students take a sex education class or receive instruction on other topics related to human sexuality if passed.

Tension over how to address gender and sexuality in schools has put students and teachers in the crosshairs of an increasingly bitter political fight.

Texas Republicans have targeted transgender individuals over the past year through a series of measures including the governor ordering Child Protective Services to investigate reports of transgender kids receiving gender-affirming care.

Ahead of the legislative session, members of the House’s conservative Freedom Caucus pre-filed bills to expand restrictions on transgender athletes to the collegiate level and to prohibit minors from receiving gender-affirming care like puberty blockers or hormone therapy.

Curriculum also has been targeted, with more than a dozen bills that address what aspects of human sexuality and reproduction are included in sex education classes, what students are taught about bullying or harassment, and whether classes focused on ethnic studies should be available to students.

Some of the same issues have been addressed by school boards.

The U.S. Department of Education opened a civil rights investigation into Granbury ISD last month after officials removed books with LGBTQ themes. Advocacy groups, including the ACLU of Texas, have called on the department’s Office of Civil Rights to investigate the Frisco and Keller districts.

The group has called for investigations into Keller ISD for its new policy prohibiting books about gender fluidity and Frisco ISD for its policy restricting bathroom usage to facilities that align with a person’s biological sex.

Last fall Grapevine-Colleyville trustees determined that district staff should not talk about sexual orientation or gender identity until after a child has finished fifth grade.

Staff writer Talia Richman contributed to this article.

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