COLUMBUS, Ohio (Aiexpress) — On Wednesday, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill that gives parents more rights to know when schools are changing their child’s health care or planning to teach lessons with “sexuality content.” This comes at a time when conservatives across the country are criticizing public schools for being too liberal on these issues.
The signing comes at a time when conservatives across the country are saying that public schools are too liberal and want to stop the talk of controversial issues, especially gender identity.
After passing a different bill at the Statehouse, the Republican governor told reporters that the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” is based on the idea that parents want to know what’s going on in their kids’ lives and Ohio wants to give them that chance.
He said, “They’re the first teachers and the best teachers, and that’s very, very important.”
A different part of the Republican-backed bill says that districts must let kids leave school during the day for religious instruction. It is not up to the districts to decide which programs the students can attend. In the past few years, Ohio has made it easier for more people to get Christian education.
Parents will be able to choose not to have their children go to schools that teach about sex, sexuality, or gender identity or schools that suggest changes to health care.
People who were against the bill said that it would force schools to “out” LGBTQ+ kids by telling parents about their private health care conversations with trusted adults at school.
The same Ohio, which is the state’s biggest LGBTQ+ advocacy, policy, and legal aid group, said that House Bill 8 doesn’t do anything to make schools safer for LGBTQ+ kids or help teachers make safe learning spaces.
“It’s very disappointing that Gov. DeWine signed HB 8 when both educators and the LGBTQ+ community were against it,” said Dwayen Steward, Executive Director of the group. He also said that the law “punishes teachers and staff for standing up for LGBTQ+ students who are already being bullied and harassed.”
He said that his group would keep fighting in Ohio to “make all students feel safe and secure in their schools.”
DeWine told reporters that he didn’t think the bill would hurt LGBTQ+ kids.
“First, we love these students just like we love all of our other students. They are welcome in Ohio and in our schools, and we want to protect them just like we protect all of our other students,” he said. “But I do think that parents are the most likely to help that child because they know the most about it.”
DeWine said it was funny that people on the political left were mad at him for backing the bill, but people on the political right were mad at him for vetoing a ban on gender-affirming care in December 2023 for the same reason.
“I just want to say that when people from maybe the other side of the aisle have criticized me, it’s because I believe in parental rights and that parents know best,” he said.
After DeWine signed on Wednesday, the Center for Christian Virtue thanked him.
“HB8 puts parents back in charge,” President Aaron Baer said in a statement. “Whether it’s a choice about health care, when to talk to a child about sexuality, or whether a child can go to a religious released time program like LifeWise Academy, parents are in charge.”
