House Republicans on Friday passed House Resolution 5, the “Parents Bill of Rights,” on a vote of 213-208.
Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola voted against the measure at every opportunity, along with the rest of House Democrats. She stated on the record that children need privacy from their parents and that schools should keep information from parents so that children are “safe at school.”
The bill was written “to ensure the rights of parents are honored and protected in the Nation’s public schools,” according to House Resolution 5. It arose after numerous reports from every state of the union about gender ideology being taught and soft porn being made available to young children in school.
The bill requires schools to publish what the curriculum is, so that parents can see if topics such as critical race theory (racial bias is inherent in western society because the society was primarily designed for and implemented by white people), critical gender theory (people are not born with gender but learn it and transsexuals should undergo hormonal treatment and sex reassignment surgery in order to make his/her body conform with his/her perceived gender identity), or other controversial topics are being taught.
The bill also requires schools to get permission from parents before referring to their children by an alternative, secret gender pronoun, such as he/him, ze/zir, xe/xer, she/her, they/them, sie/hir, or any of the other pronouns that that gender ideologues are promoting to younger and younger children. Schools would not be allowed to re-gender a child or refer to a child by a different name than the one given to the child by the parent.
The bill also says that children must use the locker room or bathroom of the gender with which they were conceived and born. In other words, schools that receive federal funding would not be able to allow boys who are identifying as girls to use these facilities.
Schools would also be required to give parents the reading lists that are being given to the students and be transparent about what books are being offered in classrooms and school libraries. The legislation, which now goes to the Senate, would boost parents’ right to speak out at school board meetings.
In recent months, the Anchorage School Board has prevented a parent from reading material into the record that is from books that are available to elementary school through high school students. When parent Jay MacDonald tried to read from the children’s training-porn book “Let’s Talk About It,” he was shut down by the school board, even though it is a title that was, at one point, available to children.
According to the bill, “Parents have a First Amendment right to express their opinions on decisions made by State and local education leaders.” This is already inherent in the U.S. Constitution, but the bill sponsors felt it was important to specify, since so many parents re being prevented from protesting actions of their school leaders.
In Anchorage and other communities, some students are re-identifying as an alternative gender at school and are being referred to by secret names that parents are not told. This practice would be illegal under the bill.
Democrats have raged over the bill, which will need to pass the Senate and be signed into law by the president, an unlikely occurrence.
“Our children need urgent and aggressive educational solutions,” said U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in a floor speech. “When we talk about progressive values, I can say what my progressive value is, and that is freedom over fascism.”
