Updated: Critics grow louder, but bill on LGBTQ, parental school policies passes out of Senate
A bill that would allow teachers to choose if they want to use students’ pronouns passed the full Senate on a party-line vote Thursday, even as critics of the bill have grown louder.
Senate Bill 150, filed by Sen. Max Wise, R-Campbellsville, is about ensuring communication between schools and parents about health services, school curriculum around sexuality, and freedom of speech for school staff and students, Wise said.
But critics of the bill said it does not protect students who are members of the LGBTQ community, leaving them vulnerable and without support they need from schools.
The bill, which was back in the Senate Education Committee with several substitutions on Thursday, passed out of the committee with nine votes in favor and three votes against the bill.
Just three hours later, it passed the full Senate, 29 to 6.
Louisville Democrat Sen. Karen Berg, whose transgender son Henry Berg-Brousseau died by suicide late last year, spoke out against the bill yet again.
“Your vote yes on this bill means one of two things: Either you believe that trans children do not exist, or you believe that trans children do not deserve to exist,” Berg said. “I can tell you these children exist.”
Wise defended his bill, denouncing the “misinformation” that has surrounded it.
“This bill does not — does not — prevent school personnel from counseling children,” he said. “This bill does not target or condemn lifestyles. ... It does not prevent students from requesting identification by non-birth-conforming pronouns, nor preventing staff and students from addressing those students with non-conforming pronouns. It does not deal with nicknames. It does not deal with alternative names.”
The committee substitutes that ultimately passed did a few things: narrowed the focus for school districts providing information to parents about health and human services related to sexuality, contraception and family planning; required that parental consent be given before any well-being assessment of students; and a clarification that teachers and school employees would still have the duty to report neglect or abuse of a student if there is reasonable cause.
‘Meanest piece of legislation’
With her father’s Purple Heart as a reminder of courage and bravery and her mother’s “indomitable spirit,” Berg opened her argument against the bill on the Senate floor with a story about her younger sister’s juvenile diabetes diagnosis. A good family friend brought her mother a copy of the Serenity Prayer.
“And my mom took that Serenity Prayer and she tore it up in front of the friend that gave it to her,” Berg said, ripping the paper in her hands. “I could never understand why. What about the Serenity Prayer would have upset my mother that much.
“And I realized — I realized recently — that when your child’s life is on the line there is nothing you will accept. Nothing you will not work to change. And that is why I am here.”
Berg said the committee changes to the bill made a “horrible bill” much better, but continuing to allow teachers to opt out of using a student’s correct pronouns remains harmful.
“Those two paragraphs allow any educator in this state to deny our children — because I’m no longer speaking for my child. You know my child is dead,” Berg said. “So I am speaking for every mother and father who has held my hand with tears running down their faces saying, ‘What do we do?’ So what this bill does, is it takes the single most important thing that can be done to improve a child’s health and well-being and makes it an entirely optional.”
When it came time to cast her vote, Berg paused then offered a forceful “no.”
The five other Senate Democrats also cast “no” votes.
Sen. Denise Harper Angel, D-Louisville, said she keeps a low profile on the Senate floor, preferring to take her concerns directly to her colleagues.
“But I rise today, Mr. President, to say that this is the meanest piece of legislation and the most destructive for our youth that I’ve seen in my 19 years here in this chamber. This is not what we should be doing. It’s particularly not what we should be to be doing under the guise of parental rights, which is nothing more than a soundbite.”
Aside from Wise’s fiery defense of the bill when moving for its passage, no Republican explained their “yes” vote on the Senate floor.
Sen. Stephen Meredith, R-Leitchfield, who previously voted ‘no’ in committee just hours earlier, citing the need for more dialogue around the bill, did not cast a vote.
Berg sobbed at her desk after the vote.
‘Why are we singling these people out?’
After the bill passed the committee, Chris Hartman, executive director of the Fairness Campaign, shouted “Shame! Shame! Shame!” as he walked out of the committee room.
“You just killed kids,” a woman yelled from the audience.
Hartman addressed the committee Thursday, opposing the bill. Though he was hoarse from hosting the Fairness Rally held at the Kentucky State Capitol Wednesday, he was able to raise his voice at the committee about the bill.
“The suicide rates (of LGBTQ youth) are outrageous,” Hartman said. “You know it, you seem to not care. Not one of you have talked about it.”
Hartman said it was “a sin” to introduce SB 150 in front of Berg. Berg was visibly emotional as the bill was discussed and the vote was taken.
Several critics of the bill addressed the committee, saying it would allow bullying and discrimination in schools.
Former state representative Bob Heleringer, a Republican, showed up to express his displeasure with the branch of government in which he once served.
“It’s just distressing to me to see the amount of legislation – not just this bill, this pronoun bill – but bills in the House… Why are we singling these people out?” he asked. “How many people are we talking about? How many transgender kids are there in the state that is so deserving of this kind of attention? That’s pure discrimination. That’s all this is. I would think the legislature has so much more to do in education than to have a pronoun.”
Heleringer went on to call the bill “immoral” and said it wouldn’t work.
“You’re not going to take who people, who for some reason, you don’t approve of what’s happened to them, as if they had any choice over that. You don’t approve of them or some of their lifestyle,” he said. “You’re not going to drive transgender kids – or gay people in general – back into the closet, back into the shadows. Thank God they’ve come out from that. They deserve to live as freedom-loving Kentuckians like you and me.”
Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, voted against the bill, calling it “inappropriate.”
“We have a responsibility to protect the smallest, less empowered, threatened, vulnerable individuals, no matter who they are,” Neal said. “They own their space. We should not invade.”
Reginald Thomas, D-Lexington, who voted against the bill when it was in front of the committee last week, voted against the bill again this week. Thomas said the bill would be imposing mandates on teachers, while also taking away rights from parents to protect their children.
Wise emphasized that the bill is about “parents’ rights,” and maintaining communication between schools and parents.
“There is nothing in this bill mandating, as it relates to pronouns,” Wise said. “There is still the choice for teachers wishing to do so.”
In the hallway outside the committee meeting, Berg handed out copies of peer-reviewed studies to at least one GOP senator. The study, she said, showed that using a transgender student’s correct pronouns decreased their likelihood of exhibiting depressive symptoms or suicidal ideation.
A 2018 study showed that transgender youth whose chosen names were used experienced fewer symptoms of severe depression dropped by 71%, reported suicidal thoughts fell by 34% and that suicidal attempts decreased by 65%.
Politics reporter Austin Horn contributed to this story.
This story was originally published February 16, 2023 at 1:50 PM.