House Republicans Introduce Federal “Don’t Say Gay” Bill

Three weeks before the midterm elections seems like a crunchy kind of timing for Congressional Republicans to introduce a federal “Don’t Say Gay” bill, but that’s what they’ve done. The new legislation, called the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act of 2022, goes much further than Florida’s law. This isn’t just about schools like in Florida, this would affect all “federally-funded facilities and programs” including public libraries, military bases, and hospitals as well. This federal “Don’t Say Gay” bill would ban the use of federal funds “to develop, implement, facilitate, or fund any sexually-oriented program, event, or literature for children under the age of 10, and for other purposes.” https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1582883320215441408 From NBC News:

The bill defines “sexually-oriented material” as “any depiction, description, or simulation of sexual activity, any lewd or lascivious depiction or description of human genitals, or any topic involving gender identity, gender dysphoria, transgenderism, sexual orientation, or related subjects.”

The sweeping legislation would affect all federally funded facilities and programs, which would include public libraries, federally funded schools, military bases and hospitals.

It would prohibit schools, for example, from providing sex education or library books that include LGBTQ topics to children under 10. It would also bar public libraries from using funds to host Drag Story Hour events — a national program started in 2015 in which drag performers read children’s books to kids.

You may recall Senate Republicans wanted a vote for the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify same-sex marriage into federal law, postponed until after the midterms to remove any sense of political pressures. And Senate Democrats said ok. Now this… The legislation was introduced on Tuesday by Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana and 32 other Republican members of Congress. https://twitter.com/MondaireJones/status/1582569874861461505 https://twitter.com/santiagomayer_/status/1582528782535041024