Heinous “Don’t Say Gay” Bill Passes Tennessee House Committee

Tennessee, which has been careening toward winning the most anti-gay state in the nation award, voted in favor of their now infamous “Don’t Say Gay” bill in a House Education Committee hearing Wednesday. Proponents of the bill, which include Democrats, claim the bill will merely prevent any discussion of homosexuality in public schools, allowing them to, in the words of one lawmaker, “indoctrinate [my children] as I see fit.”

“Opponents say it will not curb talk about homosexuality among grade school kids but will send the signal that it should be stigmatized,” writes The Tennessean. “But several lawmakers argued that it would protect parents’ right to educate their children about their beliefs on their own terms.

“The basic right as an American is my right to life, my right to liberty and my right to the pursuit of happiness,” said state Rep. John DeBerry, D-Memphis arguing to keep the subject of homosexuality out of elementary school classrooms.

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“To me, they’re sending a message that in society gay people aren’t really equal,” said Thomas Kibby, a Hume-Fogg student. “This law would be kind of moving backwards.”

Lawmakers discussed the measure for about half an hour Wednesday. The bill’s original sponsor, state Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, opened up by adding an amendment that lined up the House version with the version that passed the Senate last year. He said the new wording should dispel “hysteria” that has surrounded the issue.

“What this amendment does is keep us in line with current curriculum,” he said. “This bill, if amended, does not prohibit the use of the word ‘gay,’ it does not change the anti-bullying statute, and it does not prohibit a school guidance counselor from discussing the issues of sexuality with a student.”

But the Rev. Thomas Kleinert, pastor of Vine Street Christian Church in Nashville, said the bill would discourage discussions about a subject that children hear about constantly.

“Our children have to deal with that complexity long before they’ve reached sufficient maturity,” he said. “Silence in the classroom only adds to the cloak of pain and shame, whereas open, age-appropriate conversation may give them a chance and the courage to talk to an adult they trust.”

Last month, Phillip Parker, just 14, committed suicide.

Also last month, infamous Tennessee Republican State Senator Stacey Campfield, who is the creator of a companion bill in the Senate, falsely said that it was “virtually impossible” to get AIDS through heterosexual sex.

Image via Flickr.