Latest news with #Republican-dominant
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Under Tennessee bill, students would be taught marriage before kids one key to success
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee's public schools could soon be required to teach that the keys to a successful life include following a proper sequence of events: high school, job or higher education, marriage and then children. It's a proposal advancing inside the state's Republican-dominant Legislature and similar to others moving in several states this year. In Tennessee, the Senate passed the legislation 25-5 on Thursday. It has several steps remaining in the House. 'Some children are not privileged to recognize that or live within that,' said the bill's sponsor, Republican Sen. Janice Bowling of Tullahoma. 'And so in these classes, these children will be given this key to success.' Republican proponents argued the so-called success sequence could help lift people out of poverty by delaying life events, such as getting married before having children. Democratic opponents raised concerns that the instruction could indoctrinate students about matters that should be personal choices while making students who have a single parent feel bad about themselves. Republicans have brought forward similar proposals in other states, including Texas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio, according to an Associated Press analysis using the bill-tracking software Plural. In Utah, the governor has already signed a bill. Several advocacy groups are pushing for the policy change, including the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation. The Tennessee proposal would require that a family life curriculum in a public K-12 school include age-appropriate teaching about the "positive personal and societal outcomes" of the sequence. Under state law, parents can opt their children out of the family planning curriculum. Sen. London Lamar is a Memphis Democrat, a single 34-year-old mother and the daughter of a single mother. She said she knows a lot of people born into two-parent households whom she has far exceeded in life. 'I think this bill is misguided, it's very offensive, and I'm living proof that this bill has no merit,' Lamar said. Republican backers of the bill say the sequence is a goal supported by research, but it is not an absolute for everyone's life situation. Critics of the sequence have said it oversimplifies the various factors that keep people in poverty, relying on correlation without sufficient evidence of causation.
Associated Press
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Under Tennessee bill, students would be taught marriage before kids one key to success
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee's public schools could soon be required to teach that the keys to a successful life include following a proper sequence of events: high school, job or higher education, marriage and then children. It's a proposal advancing inside the state's Republican-dominant Legislature and similar to others moving in several states this year. In Tennessee, the Senate passed the legislation 25-5 on Thursday. It has several steps remaining in the House. 'Some children are not privileged to recognize that or live within that,' said the bill's sponsor, Republican Sen. Janice Bowling of Tullahoma. 'And so in these classes, these children will be given this key to success.' Republican proponents argued the so-called success sequence could help lift people out of poverty by delaying life events, such as getting married before having children. Democratic opponents raised concerns that the instruction could indoctrinate students about matters that should be personal choices while making students who have a single parent feel bad about themselves. Republicans have brought forward similar proposals in other states, including Texas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio, according to an Associated Press analysis using the bill-tracking software Plural. In Utah, the governor has already signed a bill. Several advocacy groups are pushing for the policy change, including the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation. The Tennessee proposal would require that a family life curriculum in a public K-12 school include age-appropriate teaching about the 'positive personal and societal outcomes' of the sequence. Under state law, parents can opt their children out of the family planning curriculum. Sen. London Lamar is a Memphis Democrat, a single 34-year-old mother and the daughter of a single mother. She said she knows a lot of people born into two-parent households whom she has far exceeded in life. 'I think this bill is misguided, it's very offensive, and I'm living proof that this bill has no merit,' Lamar said. Republican backers of the bill say the sequence is a goal supported by research, but it is not an absolute for everyone's life situation. Critics of the sequence have said it oversimplifies the various factors that keep people in poverty, relying on correlation without sufficient evidence of causation.
NBC News
20-03-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
New anti-transgender bathroom bill is headed to Tennessee governor's desk
A proposal in Tennessee that would require all public and private educational institutions that house students overnight to separate bathrooms 'by immutable biological sex' is headed to Republican Gov. Bill Lee's desk for his approval. The Republican-dominant Senate easily cleared the legislation on Thursday over the objections of LGBTQ activists and the chamber's handful of Democratic members. The legislation is just the latest effort targeting the transgender community in Tennessee, where Republican lawmakers have over the years repeatedly enacted bills aimed at the LGBTQ community as the party pursues such legislation nationwide. Currently, five states have laws restricting which restrooms transgender people can use at colleges and universities: Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Ohio and Utah (Louisiana and North Dakota have measures that apply only to school dormitories), according to Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank. Two additional states, West Virginia and Wyoming, have similar laws that will take effect later this year. Only the measures in Florida and Ohio apply to private as well as public institutions of higher learning. 'It just seems we spend a very long time on a very small part of our population,' said Sen. Heidi Campbell, a Democrat from Nashville. The governor has not publicly commented on the bill but has yet to object to contentious anti-LGBTQ efforts and is expected to sign it. If so, the legislation would take effect immediately. GOP Rep. Gino Bulso, who sponsored the bill in the similarly Republican-controlled House, said he agreed to file the legislation after being contacted by constituents who said their daughter was asked to room with a transgender female student while at a summer program at a private university. According to Bulso, the parents said no but were later upset when they learned the student would share bathrooms and showers with their daughter. 'We want to protect girls, protect young ladies and their privacy and security in spaces like restrooms and shower facilities,' Bulso said earlier this year during a committee hearing. Currently, Tennessee law already bans transgender students and staff from using K-12 public school bathrooms or locker rooms that match their gender identities. For those transgender students or employees who want more privacy than afforded by a bathroom designated for their sex at birth, the law says schools must try to offer a bathroom or changing facility that is single-occupancy. A federal judge dismissed a legal challenge to the statute late last year. Last year, Tennessee Republicans passed a measure that would allow LGBTQ foster children to be placed with families that hold anti-LGBTQ beliefs. Lawmakers also created penalties for adults who help minors receive gender-affirming care without parental consent.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A new anti-transgender bathroom bill in Tennessee is headed to the governor's desk
A proposal in Tennessee that would require educational institutions that house students overnight to separate bathrooms 'by immutable biological sex" is headed to Republican Gov. Bill Lee's desk for his approval. The Republican-dominant Senate easily cleared the legislation on Thursday over the objections of LGBTQ+ activists and the chamber's handful of Democratic members. The legislation is just the latest effort targeting the transgender community in Tennessee, where Republican lawmakers have over the years repeatedly enacted bills aimed at the LGBTQ+ community as the party pursues such legislation nationwide. Earlier this year, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed off on a transgender restriction bill explicitly aimed at university housing. According to the law, transgender college students would be prohibited from living in dorms consistent with their gender identity. 'It just seems we spend a very long time on a very small part of our population,' said Sen. Heidi Campbell, a Democrat from Nashville. The governor has not publicly commented on the bill but has yet to object to contentious anti-LGBTQ+ efforts and is expected to sign it. If so, the legislation would take effect immediately. GOP Rep. Gino Bulso, who sponsored the bill in the similarly Republican-controlled House, said he agreed to file the legislation after being contacted by constituents who said their daughter was asked to room with a transgender female student while at a summer program at a private university. According to Bulso, the parents said no but were later upset when they learned the student would share bathrooms and showers with their daughter. 'We want to protect girls, protect young ladies and their privacy and security in spaces like restrooms and shower facilities," Bulso said earlier this year during a committee hearing. Currently, Tennessee law already bans transgender students and staff from using school bathrooms or locker rooms that match their gender identities. For those transgender students or employees who want more privacy than afforded by a bathroom designated for their sex at birth, the law says schools must try to offer a bathroom or changing facility that is single-occupancy. A federal judge dismissed a legal challenge to the statute late last year. Last year, Tennessee Republicans passed a measure that would allow LGBTQ+ foster children to be placed with families that hold anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs. Lawmakers also created penalties for adults who help minors receive gender-affirming care without parental consent. Meanwhile, Tennessee Republicans have banned gender-affirming care for most minors and attempted to limit events where drag performers may appear.
Associated Press
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
A new anti-transgender bathroom bill in Tennessee is headed to the governor's desk
A proposal in Tennessee that would require educational institutions that house students overnight to separate bathrooms 'by immutable biological sex' is headed to Republican Gov. Bill Lee's desk for his approval. The Republican-dominant Senate easily cleared the legislation on Thursday over the objections of LGBTQ+ activists and the chamber's handful of Democratic members. The legislation is just the latest effort targeting the transgender community in Tennessee, where Republican lawmakers have over the years repeatedly enacted bills aimed at the LGBTQ+ community as the party pursues such legislation nationwide. Earlier this year, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed off on a transgender restriction bill explicitly aimed at university housing. According to the law, transgender college students would be prohibited from living in dorms consistent with their gender identity. 'It just seems we spend a very long time on a very small part of our population,' said Sen. Heidi Campbell, a Democrat from Nashville. The governor has not publicly commented on the bill but has yet to object to contentious anti-LGBTQ+ efforts and is expected to sign it. If so, the legislation would take effect immediately. GOP Rep. Gino Bulso, who sponsored the bill in the similarly Republican-controlled House, said he agreed to file the legislation after being contacted by constituents who said their daughter was asked to room with a transgender female student while at a summer program at a private university. According to Bulso, the parents said no but were later upset when they learned the student would share bathrooms and showers with their daughter. 'We want to protect girls, protect young ladies and their privacy and security in spaces like restrooms and shower facilities,' Bulso said earlier this year during a committee hearing. Currently, Tennessee law already bans transgender students and staff from using school bathrooms or locker rooms that match their gender identities. For those transgender students or employees who want more privacy than afforded by a bathroom designated for their sex at birth, the law says schools must try to offer a bathroom or changing facility that is single-occupancy. A federal judge dismissed a legal challenge to the statute late last year. Last year, Tennessee Republicans passed a measure that would allow . Lawmakers also created penalties for adults who help minors receive gender-affirming care without parental consent.
