WASHINGTON — Last week, the Republican-controlled New Hampshire Senate passed a bill that requires teachers to report any action or investigation into the student for matters, including the “gender expression or identity” of their students to parents and school administrators, which could force teachers to essentially “out” LGBTQ+ youth. Sponsored in the Senate by alleged former Oath Keeper Senator Bob Giuda, the measure would attack the autonomy of teachers, create unsafe classroom environments, and further intensify the LGBTQ+ youth suicide epidemic.
“When extremism takes hold in today’s Republican Party, you get extremist policies,” said DLCC executive director Heather Williams. “Sponsored by an alleged former Oath Keeper, New Hampshire’s anti-LGBTQ+ bill threatens the physical and emotional well-being of LGBTQ+ kids. School should be a safe space for kids to learn and grow, but instead, Republicans are letting their most out of touch lawmakers eviscerate teacher autonomy, threaten vulnerable children, and force unpopular policies on millions of American families.”
The New Hampshire bill was promoted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a group that is behind many of the anti-LGBTQ+, anti-voter, and anti-history copycat bills Republicans are pushing across the country. State legislators have filed more than 200 anti-LGBTQ+ bills this year, already exceeding 2021 numbers, the worst in recent history for bills attacking the LGBTQ+ community. ALEC’s mouthpiece for this bill, New Hampshire Senator Bob Giuda, was on a list of alleged Oath Keepers that was leaked earlier this year. The Oath Keepers are a violent right-wing extremist group that has a long history of anti-government attacks.
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