Following Florida's Lead: Concerning Patterns in the American Southeast

A disturbing pattern has begun to emerge within the Southeast United States. The geopolitical area is often referred to as the "Bible Belt", and it's easy to see why, given the high religiosity and fundamentalist beliefs that permeate their politics. 

                                            Percentage of individuals who practice certain

                                            sects of Christianity. Notice the amount of

                                            Protestantism in the Southeast!

With that in mind, the recent publicity generated by Florida's "Don't Say Gay" Bill has caused several states to begin following in their backwards-facing footsteps. The most visible of these is Georgia's "Common Humanity in Private Education Act". It's quite a provocative title for a bill, and its contents are equally provocative, mirroring the "Don't Say Gay" Bill's attack of LBGTQ+ exposure in formal education, citing students' First Amendment rights and noting the permeation of critical theory and inappropriate teachings of gender identity in schools before students' formative age as "destructive to American society". Additionally, Tennessee had previously introduced a bill in January which would disallow the teaching of LGBTQ+ rights and lifestyles, and even the simple mention of the concept. Because of the reception of Florida's bill, this bill has also recently advanced. Additionally, the Indiana House is in consideration of a bill that would ban the discussion of human sexuality as a whole; which would also include birth control, abortion, and gender identity. Finally, Kansas has gone so far as to introduce a bill that would amend the state's obscenity law to include homosexuality as a Class B misdemeanor.

A disturbing pattern is emerging among the Bible Belt and the Midwest. This pattern of laws that uphold bigoted ideas about the LGBTQ+ community, and the notion that students simply learning of their unique state of existence is abhorrent. This sort of narrative and implementation is not new, and Georgia even has a law in place that requires that emphasis be put on abstinence when teaching about birth control in relevant classes (and by extension,  glossing over birth control and safe-sex practices).

However, this new encroachment on educational rights is much more present than usual. As much as I hate to slander my home state, it's hard to deny that Georgia is a very conservative state, and legislation like this is unfortunately to be expected. However, it's a bit of a slippery slope, and leaving these kinds of laws unchecked could leave to similar laws popping up all across the United States. They have to be protested and dealt with with the utmost scrutiny to ensure that these scattered passages of fundamentalism don't form into a full-fledged movement.

With all that being said, even if these laws do pass through, I have faith in the educators of Georgia and beyond to sidestep the law to the best of their ability. After all, there is a difference between a law that is strict and a law that is enforced strictly, and considering how my Health teacher in high school completely ignored the law regarding abstinence and taught us birth control and safe-sex practices anyway, I'm hopeful that teachers who have the power to teach their students about the LBGTQ+ community will continue to do so even through this new wave of laws.

Citations:

Christianity in the US counties. Vivid Maps. (2018, September 2). Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://vividmaps.com/christianity-us-counties/

Georgia State Profile. SIECUS. (2021, March 29). Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://siecus.org/state_profile/georgia-fy21-state-profile/

Indiana HB1040: 2022: Regular session. LegiScan. (2022, January 4). Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://legiscan.com/IN/text/HB1040/id/2462805

Kruesi, K. (2022, March 9). Bill banning textbooks that 'support' LGBTQ issues advances. AP NEWS. Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://apnews.com/article/legislature-gender-identity-tennessee-7c57788a4de918922d6ce80c88f00930

Session of 2022 house Bill No. 2662 - kslegislature.org. (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2022, from http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/documents/hb2662_00_0000.pdf

NBCUniversal News Group. (2022, March 10). Georgia legislators introduce a Florida-style 'don't say gay' bill. NBCNews.com. Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/georgia-legislators-introduce-florida-style-dont-say-gay-bill-rcna19535

Senate Bill 613. Georgia General Assembly. (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/62663