Two pieces of legislation were recently passed by two different state legislatures:
Utah's "Transgender Youth Sports Ban," which will be vetoed by Governor Cox, and
Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill, which will be signed by Governor DeSantis.
Here's the first problem: the captions above, which are by far the most recognized descriptions of the bills are misleading - at best. For anyone who has been paying attention for the last couple of decades, this is not surprising. But that doesn't make it acceptable. The mainstream press is intentionally misrepresenting what these bills do. How is it ok to do that? How can they still pretend to be objective journalists?
The Ban That Isn't
The Utah bill does not prevent a transgender student from participating in sports. It doesn't even mention transgender. All it requires is that anyone who participates in a sport participate on the team that corresponds to their sex at birth. Simple. And fair. And inclusive.
The student can continue to "be" whoever they are - however they want to express that. And participate in whatever sport is offered for them. Schools could even have made arrangements to accommodate unique dressing out situations, if necessary.
What could not have happened, for example, is the best female athlete in the state could not have had her opportunity for a championship stolen by a guy pretending to be a girl. And, no, before you take that sentence out of context, I am not saying all people who consider themselves transgender are simply "pretending."
Point is: no one would have been banned from the opportunity to participate in school sports. No one.
Referring to it that way is a lie.
"Wait," you say. "But they are precluded from participating on the gender team they want to participate on. It's easier to make the team if you try out for the girl's basketball team, for example. They may not be able to make the boy's team." True, which is one of the reasons it shouldn't be allowed - for the same reason seniors can't play on freshman teams.
Don't Say ... What the Bill Really Says
On to "Don't Say Gay."
This complete misnomer has nothing to do with the bill. The bill simply restricts schools from implementing LGBT+ curriculum for kids in kindergarten to third grade. Sexuality in general does not need to be included in school curriculum at that age, much less the more complex psychological, moral and societal issues.
Let's be clear about the underlying premise here. That premise, which has existed in public schools for some time, is that the government needs to raise all children. Parents were obviously useful in creating the children. And they are allowed to support the school in the process of raising them, but only to the extent they agree completely with how the government is raising them. Otherwise, they are to be overruled.
"That's not accurate!" Oh, yes it is. Completely.
Furthermore, the assumption of the government schools (driven by the teachers' union) is that you are very likely not enlightened enough to raise your child. And any attempt to have input into how the government is raising your child is an attempt at censorship (and, btw, probably an indication you are abusing your child in some way).
Recently, the National Association of School Boards - a group that should be protecting us from overzealous educators - petitioned to get parents who try to participate in their children's education labeled as hate criminals and terrorists by the federal government.
Needless to say, this is a bad model - unless you are a dictator who wants to ensure all children are indoctrinated by the State.
By the way, besides the laws already on the books requiring teachers to report suspected domestic abuse, the Parental Rights in Education Bill (the actual, and more accurate, description of the legislation) specifically provides that the school does not have to notify parents of information "if a reasonably prudent person would believe that disclosure would result in abuse, abandonment or neglect."
We yak a lot about diversity. That is especially a mantra of school districts and their unions. But they are lying. The best way to have real diversity is to allow each family to raise the children they love, assisted by the school filling the role of educating them in academic subject matter - not indoctrinating them to all think and feel alike.