Owens Speaks to Bill Protecting Children from Radical Gender Ideology on House Floor

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Vice Chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) took to the Floor with Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-WI) to speak in support H.R. 2616. This bill is a combination of Rep. Walberg’s PROTECT Act and Rep. Owens’ Say No to Indoctrination Act, which were both passed by the Committee in April of last year.

The Stopping Indoctrination & Protecting Kids Act would require public elementary and middle schools that receive federal funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to obtain parental consent before changing a student’s gender markers, pronouns, preferred name on any school form, or sex-based accommodations such as locker rooms and bathrooms. Schools that fail to comply risk losing federal funding.

“I would like to start my remarks with a simple truth: There are only two sexes: male and female. 

“Sex is a biological fact, not an ideological whim. 

“Yet across the country, school districts are actively pushing radical gender ideology on children and, in some cases, facilitating social transitions without parental knowledge or consent. 

“I grew up in a time when, like most Americans, we knew a boy was a boy and a girl was a girl, and this would not be anything close to a controversy. Unfortunately, with the rise of radical gender ideology today, some may think this is controversial.

“Here is another truth that should not be contentious: parents, not school administrators, should have the ultimate right to make decisions about their children’s upbringing. 

“As the Heritage Foundation has written, “A century of Supreme Court jurisprudence supports the notion that parents enjoy the fundamental constitutional right to direct the upbringing, health, and education of their children.”

“We’re not talking about nicknames on football teams. We’re talking about adults — with no relation to a minor child — secretly transitioning a child and then actively working to conceal it from that child’s parents. 

“That is madness. 

“If a child is struggling with gender dysphoria, parents should be the FIRST to know, not the last.

“Right now, according to Defending Education, at least 21,000 schools in 1,200 districts, covering over 12 million students, have policies that prevent faculty and staff from disclosing a student’s gender identity to his or her parents without that student’s permission. That is simply unacceptable.

“If a child needs a permission slip signed to go on a field trip, a school should never think it has the right to socially transition that same child without informing his or her parents.

“The Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act is straightforward: any district that promotes these ideologies in the classroom or conceals a child’s gender transition from parents will lose federal funding. 

“Our schools should be teaching children how to read, how to write, and how to think — not trying to turn little Johnny into little Jenny.

“Not too long ago, these ideas would not have been controversial. Today, too many schools want to cut parents out and push radical ideologies. 

“I’m grateful to Chairman Walberg for his work to help bring this bill to the Floor, and I urge every one of my colleagues to vote yes on this important legislation.”

###