“Family Life” Bill Advances In TN House
A proposal that would require “family life education” curricula taught in schools to be abstinence-centered is advancing in the House.
The measure sponsored by Republican Rep. Jim Gotto of Hermitage passed the House Education Subcommittee on a voice vote on Wednesday. The legislation has become an alternative to a proposal that seeks to ban the teaching of gay issues to elementary and middle school students.
That proposal, known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, seeks to limit all sexually related instruction to “natural human reproduction science” in kindergarten through eighth grade. It was up in the House Education Committee last week, but its sponsor delayed it to allow lawmakers to consider Gotto’s more comprehensive proposal.
Tennessee Education Association lobbyist Jerry Winters says he doesn’t think the bill is necessary because the State Board of Education already has a policy relating to sex education.
