This bill is an expansion of a bill the General Assembly passed in 2023, the so-called "Parents Bill of Rights," which targeted LGBTQ+ students. The original bill's provisions included banning the discussion of gender and sexuality in schools from kindergarten through third grade and requiring school officials to out transgender students to their parents.
HB 595 expands the provisions of the original "Parents Bill of Rights" to include the following:
- Further restricts instruction on gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality by banning these discussions in kindergarten through sixth grade and only allowing them in seventh through twelth grade with parent permission.
- Adds new restrictions on human growth and development courses and reproductive health and safety education.
- Makes it more difficult for schools to add new library and classroom books, and allows more opportunities for public objection to these new additions.
- Allows librarians to be charged with a crime for "disseminating harmful materials to minors," the definition of which is concerningly vague.
- Requires parental consent for minors to check out certain books from the library.