The legislature could soon consider a bill that would rein in discussions about sexuality at the earliest levels of public school in Alabama according to State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur).
The legislation could be similar to what opponents in Florida have dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" legislation currently being considered by the Sunshine State's state legislature.
During an appearance on Huntsville radio WVNN on Friday, Orr said he was reviewing current education policy regarding sexuality issues and argued the focus should be on other more important areas of learning.
"[I] have literally on my desk in the chamber of the Senate ... a bill that would get into the counseling used in our schools -- got into the counseling standards going back to 2003, talked to the state school superintendent, and there are some individuals in the Huntsville area who have identified this very issue as a real problem," said Orr.
"The problem right now with the bill is it's pretty broad and large. And the Florida bill -- I'm interested as I read about it earlier this week is very targeted, and I think it's something we definitely need to look at because when in the world does sexuality and all of these other issues come to bear for children in kindergarten through third grade? That, you know, ought to be off the table. We need to be focusing on reading, writing and arithmetic kind of things and not getting into all of these social issues, which gets us to another area that we are grappling with in Montgomery on a broader basis for the older grades is this social-emotional learning.
"The legislature is looking at that, trying to deal with it. What is it? What does it really mean? Is it similar to what's going on in Florida? Just a lot of questions there -- similar to CRT, you know? We're trying to prevent that from being taught in our schools so that it is not throwing the baby out with the bathwater."
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email jeff.poor@1819News.com.
