A harsh new anti-LGBTQ bill may be coming to the NC legislature | Opinion

North Carolina Republicans may soon consider a new “parental rights” bill that would tightly regulate instruction on LGBTQ+ topics in nearly all grades and police materials circulated in school libraries, the Editorial Board has learned.

A bill expected to be proposed in the N.C. House would prohibit instruction on gender identity, sexuality and sexual activity from kindergarten until sixth grade. After that, such instruction would be prohibited without a parent’s written consent — all the way through the 12th grade.

The bill would also direct school districts to “establish criteria” for the selection of school library books. Books must be available for parental review for at least 30 days before they can be considered for selection, the bill states.

School districts would be required to establish a “community library advisory committee” to investigate challenges to library books. If a book receives more than 10 letters of objection, the district would have to decide whether or not to approve it at a public meeting.

The bill — House Bill 185 — was scheduled to be heard in the House Education Committee Tuesday afternoon but was pulled at the last minute. As written, it’s a troubling example of the lengths that lawmakers are willing to go to in pursuing a culture war agenda.

The newer version of the bill was uploaded to the General Assembly’s website in advance of the committee hearing and shared to TikTok by local activist Kristen Havlik. The document has since been removed.

Rep. John Torbett, a Gaston County Republican and the bill’s primary sponsor, told the Editorial Board that he pulled the bill so he could “take a breather” and make sure it is what he wants it to be, but he doesn’t expect to make any major changes. Torbett is one of the chairs of the House Education Committee.

“I wrote it to address the pornographic information getting in the hands of children through our school books,” Torbett said. “Thankfully it’s not widespread across the board in the state, but we want to head it off before it becomes that way.”

Torbett said he doesn’t yet know whether the bill will move before this week’s crossover deadline, but he hopes to get it through.

The bill, first introduced in February, was originally written to limit when and how sex education can be taught in public schools. It would prohibit the teaching of sex education before the seventh grade and require parental consent in order for a student to participate in sex ed classes. Currently, all students participate in those classes unless a parent chooses to opt out. Those provisions are still included in the latest version of the bill.

House Bill 185 goes further than the Senate’s Parents’ Bill of Rights, which passed in February. That bill bans instruction on gender identity and sexuality in kindergarten through fourth grade. An article published in the conservative North State Journal earlier this year suggested that the House may propose a stricter version of the Parents’ Bill of Rights than the Senate. At the time, Torbett told North State Journal that he believed a veto override would be successful.

Torbett’s proposal resembles controversial legislation recently passed in states like Texas and Florida — and it suggests that North Carolina Republicans are feeling emboldened enough to take governing to new extremes.

In Florida, new laws viewed as de facto book bans have led to fear, confusion and chaos. Schools are now forced to sort through books already in their collections to ensure they’re properly vetted — an arduous task. It’s prompted some teachers to cover up or empty their shelves completely until all of the titles can be reassessed. Meanwhile, laws governing what can and cannot be taught in the classroom have caused educators to self-censor for fear of retribution.

Above all, this kind of legislation is problematic because it implies that certain topics — and certain communities — are “pornographic” or inappropriate for children. But it’s also draconian in nature. Stepping in to dictate what can or can’t be taught in schools — and what books can and can’t be circulated in libraries — is exactly the kind of Big Brother-ing Republicans have always claimed they want to avoid.

This story was originally published May 1, 2023 at 5:00 AM with the headline "A harsh new anti-LGBTQ bill may be coming to the NC legislature | Opinion."