{"id":5421,"date":"2022-03-13T08:22:54","date_gmt":"2022-03-13T12:22:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=5421"},"modified":"2022-03-13T08:23:22","modified_gmt":"2022-03-13T12:23:22","slug":"et-tu-ohio-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/03\/13\/et-tu-ohio-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Et Tu, Ohio"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Don\u2019t Say Gay<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The big headlines aren\u2019t from Ohio.\u00a0\u00a0Florida is passing legislation to ban teachers from talking about sexual orientation issues to students, particularly primary grade kids.\u00a0\u00a0That might seem like it makes sense \u2013 primary grade kids aren\u2019t usually sexually aware, even in this digital age.\u00a0\u00a0But it\u2019s an insidious way of \u201cteaching\u201d little kids “right and wrong, good and bad”.\u00a0\u00a0Little Bobby can talk all he wants about Mommy and Daddy with the teacher, but Johnny can\u2019t talk about his two Mommies, or Jenny about her two Daddies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kids are intensely aware of what the adults in their lives say, and don\u2019t say.\u00a0\u00a0The fact that one of the most influential adults in their lives, the teacher, will talk with kids whose parents are two genders, but not kids with parents of one, won\u2019t \u201cget by\u201d them.\u00a0\u00a0And if teacher won\u2019t talk about it, then there must be something wrong, bad, about it.\u00a0\u00a0The silence will deliver the message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opposition to the bill calls it the \u201cDon\u2019t Say Gay\u201d bill, and that\u2019s what teachers may be forced to do.\u00a0\u00a0Much like the Texas anti-abortion legislation, the \u201cDon\u2019t Say Gay\u201d bill doesn\u2019t create criminal penalties.\u00a0\u00a0But it invites parents to file lawsuits against teachers who \u201cviolate\u201d the law.\u00a0\u00a0A teacher who does discuss Johnny\u2019s two Mommies could be sued by any parent in the class.\u00a0\u00a0The law makes that teacher liable for damages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Texas History<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Texas has already passed a law costing over $14 million a year, to \u201ctrain\u201d teachers how to discuss \u201ccontroversial\u201d issues \u2013 making sure that they present \u201call sides\u201d of such \u201ccontroversies\u201d as the Holocaust, the Civil Rights Movement, or even slavery.  And if a teacher is \u201cuncomfortable\u201d, then by law, \u201c\u2026(the) teacher may not be compelled to discuss a widely debated and currently controversial issue of public policy or social affairs (Texas Trib<\/a>)\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Looks like no more history discussions in Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might think that Ohio is \u201cabove\u201d this wave of crazy restrictive legislation.\u00a0\u00a0After all, Ohio has a fully Republican legislature, state executive and judicial branch, yet the Supreme Court is ruling against the Republican gerrymandering plans \u2013 multiple times.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And while Ohio does have an anti-abortion bill \u201con tap\u201d should the US Supreme Court overrule Roe v Wade and Casey, the state legislature hasn\u2019t gone \u201cwild\u201d like Texas or Missouri and tried to double jump the current Roe holding and ban abortion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HB 327<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ohio House Bill Number 327<\/a> is twenty-one pages long.  Most of the bill deals with the recognition of private charter schools and state education funding, an issue which drives public school advocates crazy.  But that\u2019s not what the \u201ccontroversy\u201d of HB 327 is about.  It\u2019s in the first four pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The short title is:  \u201cA Bill to amend\u2026the Revised Code to prohibit school districts, community schools, STEM schools and state agencies from teaching, advocating, or promoting divisive concepts\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s a divisive concept, here in the Buckeye state?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Divisive Concept Definitions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n