Across the United States, 430 bills are being offered in state and federal legislatures to restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ people. Florida made national headlines with its “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which one news outlet referred to as “crafted to create an environment of paranoia and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.”
(Them magazine, One Year After “Don’t Say Gay,” Florida Parents Say They’re Enraged and Afraid, 2023) Now, Gov. Mike Dunleavy has proposed his own version of the bill, named the “Parental rights in education’' bill. Gov. Dunleavy’s true goal is clear: stop children from learning about LGBTQ+ people.
Alaska ranks second in the country for death by suicide and first in the nation for teen suicide. Appallingly, our youth suicide rate is three times that of the national average and it is increasing. From 2018 to 2019, the rate of suicide among Indigenous youth nearly doubled. Research has consistently shown young people are more likely to attempt suicide when they feel isolated at school and like they don’t have a safety net. If this bill passes, LGBTQ+ youth will be more likely to find themselves in these two circumstances and will face an increased risk of death by suicide.
Dunleavy’s bill would not actually provide any protection to parents or students; it would only increase scrutiny on Alaska’s youth while also curtailing their education. It would forcibly out students who express their queerness at school to unsupportive parents, putting them at risk of homelessness or abuse. Alternatively, it would force students to stay in the closet — creating the exact isolation scenarios that increase teen depression and suicide. The strain on teachers would also be immense, requiring them to monitor students in intrusive ways to the detriment of their curriculum.
With a mandatory 10-day notice period before any topic of sexuality and gender can be discussed, students of all genders will be unable to ask basic questions to adults they trust.
What’s more, this bill will not succeed in erasing queer people. Queer people have always existed. Trans people have always existed. While different terminology and words have been used over time, the existence of love and gender beyond a binary is a historical fact. HB105 is not going to prevent students from being queer, but it will cause students immense harm. We encourage our community to come together in strong opposition to this bill.
— Chava A. Schapira, Alex Petkanas, Michael Conti, Aud Pleas, Sam Lilly, Esther Smith, Oliviah Franke, Jasmine Redgrave, Tanner Wolf, Gabby Anderson, Amy Bethka, Jade Wood, Mariah Acuna, Harrison Smith, Kira Casselman, Joan Robbins, Benjamin Wrede and Ben Virgin
Anchorage
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