Red State Tells Schools To Nix Lessons On Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation

The Kentucky Department of Education is advising schools to no longer teach lessons that focus on LGBTQ topics such as gender identity and sexual orientation, according to Monday guidance.

The department released legislative guidance for the state’s public schools regarding Senate Bill 150, which went into effect in March and requires students to receive parents’ permission before changing their gender at school. No curriculum, regardless of age, should predominantly focus on gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation, the guidance stated.

“Districts are required to ensure any child, regardless of grade level, enrolled in the district does not receive any instruction or presentation that has a goal or purpose of students studying or exploring gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation,” the guidance stated.

Under the guidance, school boards must adopt policies that require students to use bathrooms, restrooms and locker rooms on the basis of biological sex rather than gender identity. School districts must provide alternatives to transgender students if granted parental permission to do so.

Schools are advised that the state’s typical fifth grade sexual education curriculum no longer aligns with SB 150 and that no public school K-5 health class should “describe basic male and female reproductive body parts and their functions as well as the physical, social and emotional changes that occur during puberty,” the guidance stated. The state Department of Education said it will no longer advise schools on how to address student’s gender transitions, leaving the policy choice to the school board.

Lawmakers throughout the country are moving to pass legislation that requires schools to implement policies on how to handle students’ gender transitions; on April 5, the Kansas legislature approved a bill that would prohibit biological males from using the women’s bathroom. Republican Nebraska Sen. Kathleen Kauth introduced the “Sports and Spaces Act” which would also prohibit the use of bathrooms and locker rooms on the basis of biological sex.

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