Opponents of a bill that would require parental consent for minors to change the name or pronouns they use at school said at a public hearing the legislation amounts to bullying of an already vulnerable population.
SB 120 co-author Sen. André Jacque, R-New Franken, told the Senate Education Committee yesterday the legislation would ensure parents are involved in decisions for their children and are kept in the loop.
“It is deeply troubling to me that school staff would seek or even be encouraged to keep parents out of major life decisions concerning their children, while at the same time these same officials cannot give them aspirin without parental approval. Why would schools promote secrecy in such a way?” Jacque said.
Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, noted not all parents are accepting when their kids want to change their name or pronouns, and argued the bill would put them at risk. He said transgender people already grapple with transphobia, along with increased rates of bullying and suicide.
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“You guys are bringing this forward to try and pick a fight because you think that this is a winning political terrain for you. And I think it’s disgusting,” Larson said.
Brian Juchems, senior director of education and policy for the LGBTQ+ advocacy group GSAFE, said the bill would require teachers to treat transgender and nonbinary students unfairly and erode trust between students and teachers. He gave the example of a transgender student raising their hand in class, and a teacher having to refer to them by a name they do not use and by which their classmates do not know them.
“This opens a student up to embarrassment, humiliation and potentially bullying by giving a permission structure to their classmates to also not treat them as the person that they understand themselves to be. The next time around, the student will likely sit on rather than raise their hands if they are in class or school at all,” Juchems said.
Sen. Melissa Ratcliff, D-Cottage Grove, also testified against the bill. Ratcliff, whose son is transgender, co-chairs the Transgender Parent and Nonbinary Advocacy Caucus.
