By Rick Green
KEENE SENTINEL
A conference committee of the N.H. Legislature reversed itself Thursday and supported a “parental bill of rights,” despite civil rights concerns from the N.H. Attorney General’s Office and opposition from educators, social workers and health associations.
House Bill 1431, which could require schools to “out” LGBTQ+ youths to their parents, will be voted on in the N.H. House and Senate next week, and, if approved, would then be sent to Gov. Chris Sununu to be signed into law.
He promised to veto it.
“This bill as written creates numerous challenges for kids,” Sununu said in a statement Thursday. “I share the concerns of the Attorney General and as such, will veto the bill if it reaches my desk.”
The committee action came two days after the leader of the panel, House Speaker Pro Tem Rep. Kimberly Rice, R-Hudson, said she feared the measure could harm children and wouldn’t support it.
House Speaker Sherman Packard, R-Londonderry, responded by removing her from the committee and rejiggering the panel so the bill could be approved.
A provision in the measure says schools must notify parents promptly of any action by school officials related to a range of matters, including a student’s gender expression or identity.
Under the bill, violations of its provisions would allow parents to sue school districts.
Republican backers said parents have a right to know about their child’s life at school.
In the committee meeting Thursday, Sen. William Gannon, R-Sandown, said he and other parents “want to know what’s going on with our kids.
“I want to know everything going on in my kid’s life, as much as possible, from cradle to grave,” he said. “I encourage them the most.”
Gannon said he trusts parents to do what’s right for their children. And he said the bill would not interfere with educators’ obligation to let authorities know of any instances of abuse involving kids or instances in which they feel a child might be in danger.
Opponents said the measure gives short shrift to children’s rights.
Sen. Rebecca Whitley, of Hopkinton, the only Democrat on the committee, expressed opposition to the bill at Thursday’s hearing before she, too, was removed from the panel.
“As a parent and an advocate for all children, I’m heartbroken at the shameful message the Committee of Conference has just sent to our most vulnerable children and our LGBTQ+ community,” she said in a statement after the hearing. “This bill will force our schools to out LGBTQ+ students to their parents without the student’s consent, which can cause immeasurable harm to their mental and even physical health.”
N.H. Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley compared the bill to a law in Florida preventing public school teachers from instructing about sexual orientation or gender identity.
“I am absolutely disgusted by HB 1431, which is nothing short of the N.H. GOP’s version of a ‘Don’t Say Gay Bill,’ ” Buckley said in a statement. “This legislation is just one part of a nationwide effort by the far-right to further attack our teachers, undermine our education, and attack some of the Granite State’s most vulnerable.”
HB 1431 contains broad language prohibiting state and local governmental bodies from infringing “on the rights of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children.”
One provision requires that parents be notified promptly of any counseling services offered to their kids.
N.H. Assistant Attorney General Sean Locke, who directs the Civil Rights Unit at the AG’s Office, testified before the conference committee on Tuesday that the bill could be in conflict with state and federal laws against discrimination based on sexual orientation.
“It could be construed to require, for lack of a better word, school staff to ‘out’ students against students’ wishes,” Locke said.
“They may not be ready to express that to their parents and are looking for some support and guidance.”
The bill also requires that parents be notified when their child participates in a group or club.
That means parents would have to be told, for example, if a child wanted to participate in a gay-straight alliance organization, where they might get support from their peers or friends, Locke said. This would also serve to “out” a gay young person, he said.
A section in the bill says that if a portion of it is struck down in court, the rest of the measure would stand.
The bill mentions some parental rights that are already recognized, such as the ability to apply for private schools, exercise exemptions to vaccination requirements, review statewide testing results, join parent-teacher associations and review a child’s school records.
It states: “Important information relating to a minor child should not be withheld, either inadvertently or purposefully, from his or her parent, including information relating to the minor’s education.”
The bill went to the conference committee to work out differences between the Senate-passed version, which contained broad parent-notification requirements, and the House-passed version, which did not. The proposal that cleared the committee on Thursday was similar to the Senate version.
Rick Green can be reached at [email protected] or 603-355-8567
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