Democrats Allege NH Senate Republicans’ Bill Could Potentially Out Gay Students

DEBARYLIFE – The town of Concord, New Hampshire, Attorneys for the state of New Hampshire put parental rights back in the spotlight on Friday when they pushed a bill that would require teachers to be “completely and honestly” honest with parents who ask them about what they know about their children.

Sen. Republicans passed a bill Friday that requires teachers to tell a student’s parents if asked, what they know about the child’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or other behavior at school. The vote was 13-10 in favor of the bill.

“If a student doesn’t want to wear religious clothing when they go to school, they want to go by a different name when they’re at school, this isn’t saying that can’t happen,” said Daryl Abbas, R-Salem, state senator. “What this is saying is if a parent inquires about the school, the school when they respond to that, cannot misrepresent facts to the parents.”

When parents send a written question to a licensed teacher, Senate Bill 341 says that teachers must answer “completely and honestly.” Republicans in the Senate said it could force teachers to tell parents about gay kids.

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“SB 341 and legislation like it creates a narrative that our schools and the teachers who work there are in actuality somehow working against parents and that they do not have the best interests of their child in mind, and we know nothing could be further from the truth,” said Rebecca Perkins Kwoka, D-Portsmouth state senator.

Republicans said that the bill was based on a real-life incident that happened in Manchester schools and ended up in a Supreme Court case.