DEAR LOUISIANA RESIDENTS!

UPDATE:  This hateful bill passed the State House today (5/9) with a vote of 67 yeas and 28 nays. The House is comprised of 71 Rs and 33 Ds. Now that it has passed through the House, it will go to the Senate for consideration. YOUR HELP IS NEEDED!

HB466 by Dodie Horton (R - Haughton) is an unnecessary bill that seeks to ban any and all "discussions" in all public schools on the subjects of sexual orientation,  gender identity,  and anything related to use of preferred personal pronouns of students,  teachers,  school staff, and more. Extracurricular organizations like the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) groups or any LGBTQIA+ student peer support groups would essentially be silenced. Kids would be forced to get parental consent to see a school counselor about issues related to sexual orientation or gender identity (self - or family members) - even in situations in which telling their parent(s) may be dangerous to do.

This is the second attempt by Horton to pass her "Don't Say Gay" bill in Louisiana - fashioned after the unconstitutional bill that Florida has tried to enact. This bill is a government over-reach and will SILENCE students, teacher, counselors, and staff from any "discussion" of anything related to sexual orientation, or gender identity.

Valid questions to consider with this bill that now goes to the Senate:  How will this law, if enacted, be enforced? What are the penalties for students, teachers, staff, etc. at schools should they violate this ban on "discussions" about sexual orientation, gender identity, or related issues. Is the state of Louisiana prepared to spend millions of tax dollars to defend this heinous bill in the courts should it become law? Would these prohibited "discussions" also apply to heterosexual students, teachers, staff, and counselors - or just the LGBTQIA+ school people?

Or, is this simply a thinly masked heterosexist, homophobic, transphobic bill in search of a problem that doesn't exist? 

One thing repeatedly stated by Rep. Horton in her pushing this hateful bill through the House and into the Senate was that it (this bill) was to "protect our children" - without really saying from what.

Also, Horton used ONE (that's right, only 1) "Tweet" by a non-binary teacher in Caddo parish as her example of how widespread and urgent this issue is. She could not provide any data or other anecdotal evidence to support why she felt this bill was necessary.

This bill is a pseuo-solution looking for a problem that does not exist - except in the minds of transphobic and homophobic politicians. This bill will HARM children - not "protect" them as the bill's sponsor falsely asserts - by further ostracizing and silencing kids and teens who are simply seeking ACCEPTANCE and understanding.

Censorship and intolerance like this must be opposed.

Please OPPOSE this horrid piece of legislation.

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PS: Due to this being a Louisiana state legislative petition, we ask that only LOUISIANA RESIDENTS sign it at this point in our process. We appreciate support from everywhere - but for now, we need to keep it to LOUISIANA RESIDENTS for the petition. Thanks for your understanding.