NC Policy Watch: “State Democrats went on the offense Tuesday, countering controversial Senate Bill 49 (SB 49), a Republican-backed Parents Bill of Rights modeled after Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, with versions of their own.
House Bill 58 and Senate Bill 74, titled “Parents’ and Students’ Bill of Rights” were filed on Monday. The bills, which are the same, spell out 10 parental rights around minor children’s “upbringing, education, healthcare and mental health.”
The bills also list 14 student rights, which include a “learning environment in which discrimination in all forms is not tolerated by the public school unit or school administration, school police or security personnel, or students.”
Students are also entitled to a school where they feel safe and comfortable with “sufficient protections and resources,” including physical and mental protections for students and staff, the bill states.
The Republican-backed SB 49 would require schools to tell parents if their children want to use different pronouns at school and prohibit instruction on gender identity, sexuality, and sexual activity in kindergarten through fourth grade.”