Lawmakers on the House Education Committee advanced a bill that would ban discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in all K-12 public classrooms in Louisiana. Critics refer to it as a “Don’t Say Gay” bill. It mimics legislation that first passed in Florida and has since popped up in majority-Republican legislatures across the country.
The committee also passed a bill that would require students to have parent permission to use pronouns that don't correspond to their assigned sex at birth. Both bills passed the full Legislature last year but were vetoed by then-Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat.
The proposals each passed from the committee with a 9-3 vote and head next to the House floor.
The full House passed a bill to require all public classrooms in the state to display the Ten Commandments. It heads next to the Senate.
