By Eleanor Boudreau
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkno/local-wkno-970786.mp3
Memphis, TN – A controversial bill that aims to restrict discussion of homosexuality in grades K-8 has passed the Tennessee Senate. The first draft of the law prohibited "the teaching of or furnishing of materials on human sexuality other than heterosexuality." The bill that actually passed the Senate says that instruction in elementary and middle school "must be limited exclusively to natural human reproduction science." Freshman Senator Stacey Campfield, from Knoxville, has been pushing this bill since he was in the Statehouse.
"I think most people understand sexuality is a very complex issue," Campfield said. "And there are a lot of divergent points of view on how it should be taught. And what my bill says is for very young children--you know, grades K through 8--that we are going to leave that up to the parents to decide when children are mentally ready to handle those issues. And what the parents want to say on those issues."
Jonathan Cole of the Tennessee Equality Project opposes Campfield's bill. He likes the new language slightly better than the old language, but he points out the wording in the house version hasn't changed yet.
"We will continue to oppose it," Cole said, "The house version of that bill is still in tact, it has not been put on notice yet."
Tennessee state law already prohibits the teaching of sexuality in elementary school, so there's not a lot of discussion of sexuality--homosexual or otherwise--going on prior to high school. There are some exceptions for materials approved by the state and local school board, still, it's unclear how much Campfield's bill--whatever the wording--would change about current curricula. But, gay rights organizations worry that passing a law that explicitly restricts discussion in school could damage kids.
"I knew that I was gay at a very early age, even in grade school," Cole said. "So, kids are thinking about these issues, experiencing these issues in the grades that this Don't Say Gay Bill' is targeting. And so by sending a message that we can't talk about you we can't talk about those people, we can't talk about gay people. It sends the message, it reinforces the message, that somehow there is something wrong with you," Cole said.
For gay youth, negative messages can be more than mentally hurtful. Gay youth are more likely to commit suicide than their straight peers. Psychologist at Columbia University Mark Hatzenbuehler has studied the question of how social environments affect teen suicide rates. His research shows that schools are very important and schools that are less supportive of gay youth have higher rates of suicide.
"The bill that is being proposed in Tennessee, you know, does not appear to create a supportive environment for gay youth," Hatzenbuehler said, "Because it creates a separate and unequal system where heterosexuality can be discussed in a school curriculum, but homosexuality can't, which I think sort of further stigmatizes gay youth. And the results from our study I think pretty clearly show that when schools fail to implement these kinds of supportive environment for gay youth we are finding higher rates of suicide in those schools."
Campfield has heard the criticisms. "Sure, I think the last person a person who is suicidal, I think the last person who needs to be counseling a child is some teacher who can barely teach them to read half the time," Campfield said. "I think we need to get someone who is qualified at helping someone if they are suicidal," he continued, "And I don't think that person that is qualified is a teacher. And I, I'm sorry I don't think that we should be able to be pushing that, making a teacher some sort of psychology professor, or psychologist, or psychoanalyst, and then have them--I mean children are very vulnerable at very young ages and I don't think that we need to be indoctrinating them to anybody's point of view, be it pro or con. We should just leave it alone and let the families decide what's appropriate."
Campfield's bill is not a first of its kind. South Carolina and Louisiana have similar laws already on the books. The soonest Campfield's bill could pass is next year. In order for the bill to become law the Statehouse would have to pass it, too.