Aiexpress – The GOP-led Tennessee House passed a bill on Monday that would generally prohibit the display of pride flags in public school classrooms, following a heated discussion.
The 70-24 vote moves the bill to the Senate, where a final vote could come as soon as this week. The motion to end debate prompted Democratic Rep. Justin Jones of Nashville to exclaim that House Speaker Cameron Sexton was out of order and was rejecting people’s requests to speak. Republicans, in response, chastised Jones by voting him out of order, thus terminating his immediate statements.
Before that, at least two people opposed to the bill were booted out of the gallery for disrupting the proceedings, as Democrats and other opponents slammed the proposal for unfairly limiting a significant emblem of the LGBTQ+ community in schools.
“I am proud when I walk into the public schools in my city to see the LGBTQ flag in the classrooms, proudly put up by teachers who understand the suffering that many of their students go through,” Rep. Jason Powell, a Democrat from Nashville, told CNN. “We should be welcoming and celebrating our students, not hating on them.”
According to the legislation, “displaying” a flag by a school or employee implies “exhibiting or placing the object anywhere students may see it.”
The proposal would allow some flags to be displayed, with some exclusions for specific instances. Those approved would include the flags of the United States, Tennessee, those deemed protected historical items under state law, Native American tribes, local governments’ armed forces and prisoners of war or those missing in action, other countries and their local governments, colleges or universities, and schools themselves.
Other flags could be briefly shown as part of a “bona fide” course curriculum, and certain groups permitted to use school buildings may display their flags while on school grounds, according to the measure.
The legislation establishes an enforcement system based on lawsuits filed by parents or guardians of pupils who attend or are eligible to attend a public school in the district in question. The lawsuits might challenge the display of flags by a school, employee, or agency that do not meet the established criteria for what is permitted in classrooms.
Republican Rep. Gino Bulso, the bill’s sponsor from Williamson County, south of Nashville, said parents contacted him with concerns over “political flags” in schools. When asked if the bill would allow the Confederate flag to be shown in classrooms, Bulso said it would not modify the present legislation governing when such a symbol might be displayed. He stated that the bill’s provisions might be used to create Confederate flags for approved curriculum and certain historical relics that cannot currently be removed without significant governmental approval.
“What we’re doing is making sure parents are the ones who are allowed to instill in their children the values they want to instill,” Bulso said in a statement.
The proposal is the latest development in Tennessee’s ongoing political battle over LGBTQ+ rights, where conservative leaders have already moved to restrict classroom discussions about gender and sexuality, prohibit gender-affirming care, and limit events where certain drag performers may appear.
The Senate version of the bill would limit who might sue over a flag to that school’s pupils, parents or guardians, and personnel.
Earlier this month, the American Civil Liberties Union wrote to town, school, and district authorities who have adopted or are considering flag bans or other forms of pride displays. The group warned that under First Amendment court precedent, “public schools may prohibit private on-campus speech only insofar as it substantially interferes with or disrupts the educational environment or interferes with the rights of other students.”
Bulso argued that displaying the pride flag is not protected free speech for school personnel.
