COLUMBUS — A pair of Ohio Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill that would ban classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.
The measure introduced Monday by GOP Reps. Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland) and Mike Loychik (R-Bazetta) mirrors a recently passed Florida law dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by critics and was immediately slammed by Democrats and the state’s largest teachers union.
“The ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill is outright dangerous and sets a precedent of censorship and misinformation in Ohio,” said Rep. Michael Skindell (D-Lakewood).
The legislation also requires that teaching about sexual orientation or gender identify must be age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for children in fourth through twelfth grade.
“These politicians are continuing to use race and sexual orientation as wedge issues to score cheap political points, and they should be ashamed of themselves,” Scott DiMauro, president of the Ohio Education Association, said.
Under the bill, which is awaiting assignment to a committee, schools in Ohio could not “teach, use, or provide any curriculum or instructional materials on sexual orientation or gender identity” in kindergarten through third grade.
Older students could not be taught “any curriculum or instructional materials on sexual orientation or gender identity in any manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
The proposal would also prohibit the teaching of “divisive or inherently racist concepts” including the academic theory known as critical race theory.