Congressional Equality Caucus Denounces House Passage of H.R. 5, the "Politics Over Parents Act"

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Congressional Equality Caucus released the following statement denouncing the House Passage of H.R. 5, the so-called "Parents Bill of Rights," or more appropriately, the "Politics Over Parents Act."

"H.R. 5 is a dangerous bill that would require schools to forcibly out transgender students, even if it puts those youth in harm's way. All children deserve access to a safe and affirming school environment, yet H.R. 5 does not address any of the actual needs of our students, schools, or parents. Instead, it targets the wellbeing of LGBTQI+ children," said Equality Caucus Chair Mark Pocan (WI-02). "Transgender youth have enough challenges already due to harassment, bullying, and anti-transgender state laws. My colleagues who voted for this bill should be ashamed."

In addition to creating unnecessary reporting requirements on schools, H.R. 5 opens the door to empowering certain parents to dictate what other parents' children can or cannot read or learn in school. This could especially lead to schools censoring content on topics relating to LGBTQI+ people, as well as race. H.R. 5 also has provisions that were expressly included to target the LGBTQI+ community:

• It includes two provisions that would require schools that take steps to respect a student's gender identity to forcibly out those transgender youth to their parents, even if this would put the youth in harm's way.
• It includes the "Parents Opt-in Protection Act," which was introduced to limit the ability of students to fill out surveys that ask questions about sexual orientation or gender identity. This provision is intended to limit our country's ability to collect data to understand the experiences of students, both LGBTQI+ and non-LGBTQI+, in schools.
• It includes a provision that would require schools, if asked, to share with parents their children's answers to surveys, potentially outing students if the survey asks questions about being LGBTQI+. This would also incentivize students to lie on surveys in response to a range of questions if they are uncomfortable with their answers being disclosed, undermining the accuracy of all data these surveys collect.
• It includes two provisions with offensive language to describe transgender people, intended to both misinform parents about who trans kids are and spur parents to oppose trans-inclusive policies.

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Founded in 2008, the mission of the Congressional Equality Caucus is to promote equality for all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics, including intersex traits. The Caucus is strongly committed to achieving the full enjoyment of human rights for LGBTQI+ people in the U.S. and around the world.