Louisiana Congressman Mike Johnson (R) introduces a Russia/Hungary/Florida-style “Don’t Say Gay” bill that applies nationwide that is deceitfully called the “Stop The Sexualization of Children Act”. The bill seeks to ban federal funding for events with children under 10 years old present that feature LGBTQ+-affirming materials or “sexually-oriented” material, such as Drag Queen Story Hours and advice on gender-affirming healthcare, under the false guise of “protecting innocent children.”
The bill has 33 GOP co-sponsors, including Reps. Mary Miller, Vicky Hartzler, Lauren Boebert, Glenn Grothman, and Daniel Webster. Surprisingly, supremely anti-trans extremist Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) isn’t one of the cosponsors of this bill as of publication.
This is part of the GOP’s bigoted strategy to suppress the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans, especially LGBTQ+youths andchildren, trans, and gender-nonconforming peoples.
More than 30 House Republicans have signed on to a bill to prohibit federal dollars from being used to make “sexually-oriented” materials available to children under the age of 10.
The measure introduced Tuesday by Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) would prohibit the use of federal funds to develop and host programs or events for children younger than 10 that contain “sexually-oriented material,” such as drag queen story hours that have recently drawn the ire of conservative politicians and right-wing groups.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in July filed a federal complaint against a Miami restaurant after a video of a child attending a drag brunch there was circulated widely online. DeSantis in the lawsuit cited a 1947 state Supreme Court ruling that “men impersonating women” in a “suggestive and indecent” fashion constitutes a public nuisance.
Johnson’s bill, titled the “Stop the Sexualization of Children Act,” claims that state and federal agencies including the Department of Defense have in the past used federal funds to promote and host “sexually-oriented events” like drag queen story hours or burlesque shows for children and families.
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Johnson’s bill defines “sexually-oriented material” as depictions, descriptions or simulations of sexual acts, human genitals or “any topic involving gender identity, gender dysphoria, transgenderism, sexual orientation, or related subjects.”
Christopher Wiggins at The Advocate:
Republicans in the House of Representatives introduced legislation based on a right-wing conspiracy theory and proposed what critics are calling a federal “don’t say gay” bill.
The bill prohibits using federal funds for programs or events that contain “sexually-oriented material” geared toward children under 10, such as drag queen story hours, which have attracted the attention of conservative politicians and right-wing activists. On Tuesday, Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson introduced the bill with more than 30 House Republican co-sponsors.
The introduction of this legislation is a reaction to far-right conservative outrage over innocuous drag performances that have included the presence of children at family-friendly drag events. An online video of a child attending a drag brunch at a Miami restaurant was widely circulated among right-wing Twitter users in July, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis filed a federal complaint against the restaurant in which he cited a 1947 state Supreme Court ruling that “men impersonating women” constitutes a public nuisance, The Hill reports.
The outlet notes that Johnson's proposal, the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act, says government agencies on the federal and state level, including the Department of Defense, have used federal funds in the past to promote and host “sexually-oriented events” like drag queen story hours for children.
Alex Bollinger at LGBTQ Nation:
He said that his bill would stop “events where adults dance salaciously or strip for children” without citing any examples of recipients of federal money that have hired strippers to perform for kids. Instead, he mentioned an Air Force base in Virginia that hosted a Drag Queen Story Hour, even though drag isn’t a form of stripping; in fact, it often involves wearing an excessive amount of clothing.
Opponents of Don’t Say Gay bills say that they isolate LGBTQ youth and the kids of LGBTQ parents, teaching them that they and their families are too shameful to discuss in public, contributing to the outsized suicide rate among LGBTQ youth.
“Last year, nearly half of LGBTQ+ youth contemplated suicide, but that didn’t stop 33 of my GOP colleagues from introducing a federal ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill today,” out Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY) wrote on Twitter. “I’m confident the people introducing this bill are more likely to go to Hell than the kids they’re causing harm.”
With Democrats controlling the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House, this bill has no chance of passing. Instead, it was likely introduced just before the midterm elections to make it an issue for Republicans to campaign on and drive their base to the polls.
Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) on the bill being a dangerous combo of Florida HB1557 and Texas SB8.
Erin Reed (@ErinInTheMorn) on the bill’s impacts on trans people:
This horrifying anti-LGBTQ+ garbage being proposed is one reason why Americans need to vote Blue up and down the ballot if you haven’t already done so. If the GOP gains control of either or both houses this year, or even worse, regain the Presidency in 2024 along with keeping both chambers, disastrous bills like this will be the norm.