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Lt. Gov. 鈥檚 plan to is being pitched by Republicans as a way to protect kids from hearing about adults鈥� 鈥渟ex lives鈥� at young ages.
But education officials say Texas schools don鈥檛 have lessons about sex in kindergarten through third grade. And LGBTQ advocacy groups accuse Republicans pushing the potential legislation of an ulterior motive 鈥� silencing any acknowledgment, however informal, that LGBTQ people exist.
Patrick said Monday that he will make it a 鈥渢op priority鈥� during next year鈥檚 legislative session to pass a bill that mimics a Florida law critics dubbed 鈥淒on鈥檛 Say Gay.鈥� The Florida bill, named the , attempts to prohibit 鈥渃lassroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity鈥� before fourth grade. Patrick鈥檚 push for a similar law comes at a time when classrooms in the state are already dealing with a significant and laws which conservatives have labeled 鈥渃ritical race theory.鈥�
In interviews with The Texas Tribune, teachers and school districts said there is limited formal instruction on LGBTQ issues and identities in elementary school classrooms. Zeph Capo, president of the Texas American Federation of Teachers, said there is 鈥渃ertainly nothing at the state level鈥� specifically about LGBTQ education in elementary schools.
鈥淲hat I think they're referring to is not the curriculum, it's not the formal education pieces,鈥� Capo said. 鈥淭here are elementary schools that are a safe and affirming school, which is a school that says, 鈥楲GBT families and students are actually welcome here and are going to be treated fairly and with discipline and respect.鈥欌��
Advocacy organizations and Democratic lawmakers say the bill will affect teachers鈥� and schools鈥� ability to acknowledge the existence of LGBTQ identities in school. Capo worries Texas teachers may even be targeted for having a picture of their spouse on their desk.
Such fears echo concerns Texas teachers have had since last year about a Texas鈥� 鈥渃ritical race theory鈥� law, which can be taught. Educators of color have said the and silences the views of students of color.
Florida鈥檚 law about LGBTQ lessons at school specifically bans classroom discussions of sexual orientation or gender identity 鈥渋n a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.鈥�
鈥淧art of the strategy is to be so ambiguous that nobody really understands the legislation. The effect is silencing teachers from discussion,鈥� said Paul Castillo, who is senior counsel and students鈥� rights strategist for Lambda Legal, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ individuals鈥� civil rights.
Castillo said a similar Texas bill would create a 鈥渃hilling effect鈥� in classrooms, where teachers might avoid responding to questions about identity for fear of legal punishment.
鈥淔ear is a point; it is not what the legislation actually does,鈥� Castillo said.
Patrick's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Other Republican lawmakers and officials have already indicated their intent to support a version of the Florida legislation in Texas. Republican Party of Texas Chair Matt Rinaldi and state Rep. , R-Tyler, they would support expanding the scope of a potential Texas bill to apply up to the 8th grade.
鈥淚f things are going well in schools in Texas, that [legislation] should not change anything because teachers should not be talking to kindergarteners through third graders about their sex lives,鈥� Rinaldi said in an interview with the Tribune.
State Rep. , a founding member of the Texas House LGBTQ Caucus, said the 鈥渦nderlying purpose鈥� of a measure similar to Florida鈥檚 is 鈥渢o remove choices from LGBTQ youth and make them too afraid to come out of the closet.鈥� She said the same is true of Gov. 鈥檚 attempts to have if they provide access to .
鈥淭here is this fallacy that teaching that LGBTQ people exist is teaching sex, and that's just a lie,鈥� Zwiener, D-Driftwood, said. 鈥淣obody claims that teaching that straight people exist is teaching about sex. There being husbands and wives in books and in movies is just accepted as the baseline. LGBTQ people existing is not sex. And our identities get inappropriately sexualized all the time.鈥�
But Rinaldi likened a teacher discussing their family structure to talking about their 鈥渟ex lives鈥� and questioned why Democrats would oppose legislation limiting discussions about LGBTQ people.
鈥淗ow was this so hard for Democrats? I really am not understanding this,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 just 鈥� it boggles my mind.鈥�
Rinaldi also takes issue with school events that aim to teach kids about diversity and inclusiveness, including the , saying the bill would stop such celebrations and 鈥渃hange things for the better.鈥�
鈥淜ids should be taught about math, science, English. They shouldn't be subjected to Pride Week parades in their public schools,鈥� he said.
Cristina Nguyen, a spokesperson for Austin ISD, said the recent , which defied a letter from Attorney General Ken Paxton, wasn鈥檛 at all about human sexuality.
鈥淚t was more so talking about families and what does your family look like?鈥� Nguyen said. 鈥淚t was about kindness. It was not necessarily even about identity and a lot of the things that they're referencing.鈥�
Nguyen added that Pride Week for students in the district focused more on activities rather than instruction. For instance, students participated in community circles 鈥渨here they could talk about what their families look like,鈥� or, for some campuses, view a slideshow in school cafeterias of different students鈥� families.
鈥淢aybe someone had two dads, two moms, a mom and a dad,鈥� Nguyen said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just awareness of differences, rather than telling them exactly about identity and gender and all of that.鈥�
School districts in other parts of Texas also told the Tribune that elementary students don鈥檛 receive classroom instruction about LGBTQ issues or identities.
鈥淚'm not aware that we have any education related to those subject areas. We don鈥檛 do anything like that,鈥� said Meghan Cone, a spokesperson for the Frisco Independent School District in North Texas. 鈥淲e do not anticipate a bill like this would impact our curriculum or classroom instruction.鈥�
But Rinaldi said the bill would prevent teachers from discussing their 鈥減ersonal lives.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know anybody from my generation who knew anything about their first grade teacher鈥檚 family structure,鈥� he said. 鈥淭eachers taught school 鈥� they didn鈥檛 talk about their personal lives to children who are 5 years old.鈥�
