Umm... WTF is this?

[ShazzieB]

18. Is this bill likely to die in the Senate?

I freaking hope so. If it does, I'm still going to side eye those Democrats who voted for it, very hard, but man, I really hope so.

Some of these people sound like they don't live in reality. Yes, of course, full and open communication between home and school is ideal, but there are times when that's just not safe, because some parents suck. Keeping kids safe should come first. Next thing you know, they'll be passing laws to require teachers (who are mandated reporters) to notify parents before reporting suspicions of parental child abuse to authorities. Because gods forbid schools keep ANYTHING secret from parents, right?

Oh, and they just HAD to put in that part about banning books that include transgender characters or even address the existence of transgender people! Will ALL school libraries be required to get rid of every book that so much as hints at the possibility that trans people exist? As a former librarian who still fiercely supports intellectual freedom, the idea of actively denying children access to information that some of them may desperately need makes my blood boil. Yes, public libraries exist, but not all kids have access to them. (In my case, the public library was a long way from where we lived and my mother didn't have a driver's license. It was a great day for me when the bookmobile started to make a weekly stop in my neighborhood, even though what it offered was only a fraction of what was available in that big building that I never got to visit.)

What we need is this country right now is a MASSIVE public education program to combat all the lies and distortions about trans people and trans issues that are being spread by the right. More and more people are being brainwashed by those lies and distortions every day, and I don't see anything being done to counter it.