THE GUARDIAN: Controversial bill would limit discussion of gay relationships in schools and could encourage similar laws across America
Gay rights activists are mounting a last-ditch push to stop legislation that would ban any discussion of homosexuality in Tennessee schools, in a move they fear will encourage similar laws across the US.
The controversial 'don't say gay' bill has already passed the state's senate, and is expected to receive a second vote on Tuesday. If passed, the bill could become law within months.
Opponents are concerned about the implications across the US as well as in Tennessee, where two teens, Jacob Rogers and Phillip Parker, have recently killed themselves after being bullied over their sexuality.
The legislation, originally authored by Republican state senator Stacey Campfield, limits all sexually-related instruction to "natural human reproduction science" in kindergarten through eighth grade, when students are 13-14 years old.
The original version of the bill would have prohibited public elementary and middle schools from providing "any instruction or material that discusses sexual orientation other than heterosexuality."
The amended version would limit instruction to "natural human reproduction science", but has left those terms undefined. » | Dominic Rushe in Nashville, Tennessee | Monday, February 27, 2012
