Rhaspede Logan, Minot

I read the testimony about proposed bill SB 2260 on the House floor. After reading the bill thoroughly, I can comfortably say it has nothing to do with parental rights. The idea that this bill is necessary to codify a parent’s right to dictate the education of their child is nothing more than a purposely polarizing cover for the continued subjugation and alienation of female and trans students.

First, the bill cites a litany of national incidents that supposedly prompted the sponsoring of the bill. I think one of the most ridiculous incidents mentioned was the claim that the FBI was effectively treating parents like domestic terrorists simply because they wanted to know what their kids were being taught. This is a wildly inaccurate claim. The memo that prompted U.S. Senator Jordan to introduce to Congress the nearly identical legislation proposed for North Dakota was directed specifically at parents who were harassing teachers and school board members in protest against mask mandates at schools around the country during the pandemic. Parents who did things like surround a school board member’s vehicle, shaking it, pelting it with projectiles, and banging on the windows, all while the subject was trying to drive away. The National Board of Education asked the FBI for help resolving these matters and protecting board members and teachers, which is what prompted the memo. To suggest anything else is to purposefully twist the details of those incidents with the goal of stoking fear in the hearts of parents.

Second, allow me to point out all the currently active legislation that guarantees the rights of parents: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act already allows parents to review their child’s educational records. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act already requires teachers to report suspected child abuse. The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment already allows a student’s parent to opt them out of any survey. And teachers are already prohibited from administering any non-prescribed medication to students.

These are not rights that need to be codified. These are rights that are already protected by existing legislation. However, when I see specifically named things like gender expression, gender roles, gender expectations, and gender norms in the bill as things that parents should be able to protect their children from, the bill’s true intention becomes clear. The goal is to remove any mention of queer people from schools in hopes that non queer children will grow up completely unaware of their existence. The intent is to make those LGBTQ+ students feel isolated and helpless. The aim is to ensure that North Dakota’s female students never question the archaic expectations set upon them because of their sex. This bill is blatantly cruel and any attempt to disguise it as a champion for parental rights is tepid at best.

I cannot fathom why an elected official charged with the protecting the interests of all citizens would so maliciously target a minority group of students who already face crushing discrimination and danger from peers and parents who lack the common decency to simply let them exist.