DON'T SAY GAY

Tennessee Bill Could Require Teachers to Tell Parents if Kids Are Gay

It also bans discussion of homosexuality in grades K-8

Jan 30, 2013 by Mary Noble

Senior Editor t

A controversial bill widely known as "Don't Say Gay" has been revived, after biting the dust in 2012. It came out of the Tennessee Senate Education Committee on Tuesday.

The bill's been labeled "don't say gay" because it prohibits teachers from discussing sexual orientations other than heterosexuality through 8th grade, even with kids who have gay family members. It also bans books and other materials that mention homosexuality.

The latest version of the bill also includes an amendment that gay rights sympathizers are interpreting as requiring teachers to tell parents if their child is gay or suspected of being gay.

The amendment allows school principals and other staff to mention homosexuality to students "engaging in, or may be at risk of engaging in, behavior injurious to the physical or mental health and well-being of the student or another person," according to the bill. However, the measure provides that "parents or legal guardians of such students shall be notified as soon as practicable of the circumstances requiring intervention."

The bill is sponsored by Sen. Stacey Campfield (R), who made headlines yesterday with a bill requiring kids to earn welfare payments with good grades. Campfield says he favors "tolerance" of homosexuality but not "acceptance," and is simply trying to ensure teachers "don't have to teach about homosexuality to your second-graders [and] can spend more time on arithmetic."

Via the Huffington Post.

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?	Is it a good idea to have teachers tell parents if they suspect their child is gay?

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Jan '13

thatgirl

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Good Lord. -facepalm-
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Jan '13

martydotcom

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Who spiked the water in the state house in Tn with dumb Kool aid.
Last night they wanted to cut the "entitlement" granted a welfare mother of 2 from a generous $165 by $60.00 for poor scholastic performance. Duhh don't they have any concept of what being parent is or a parent having a gay child
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Post @martydotcom
Jan '13

stepped_in_it

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@martydotcom I was gonna say just what you said....I'm embarrassed...I live in this backwoods, hilly billy, toothless state! <Head hanging>
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Jan '13
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Jan '13
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Jan '13

thatgirl

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@mbill935
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Jan '13
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Jan '13

DomesticG

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All Dem certainly isn't the answer either! Take all that energy you have focused against the Rep party and put it towards a better solution that divisiveness and hate.
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Jan '13

InjusticeSucks

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@DomesticG The GOP just keeps making it way to easy for the Democrats to win again and again.
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Jan '13

WattheTyler

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@DomesticG I'm not a Democrat either buddy. I'm an independent. Republicans/tea party are basically neo-Nazis nowadays. If I have to choose between Democrats or Republicans I will choose the Dem any day of the week. Could you imagine how scared some LGBT Tennessee children must be about this legislation? This legislate is straight out of the Nazi playbook.
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Post @WattheTyler
Jan '13

DomesticG

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@InjusticeSucks can't say that I disagree with that one bit! Just that attitudes like his (from any either) aren't helping ANYTHING. Democrat this...Republican that...blah blah blah. We need to unite behind better options.
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Jan '13
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Jan '13

DomesticG

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*speechless*
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Jan '13
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Jan '13

NotOfThisWorld

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F#$@ing stupid. I knew I was gay since I was small. My first crush was on a girl. This is just so stupid. Now what about one that says don't say divorce/abuse/rape. Or just make iy simple and call it life is perfect. Just worry about teaching!
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Jan '13

hwyangel

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Usually a teacher will tell a parent if their child is showing signs of sexual activity. For parents of heterosexual kids this would be considered hurtful or destructive behavior because they are too young. Not sure why it's different for "gay" kids.
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Post @hwyangel
Jan '13

PoliticalSpice

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My first crush was on a girl too. We have something in common. Wanna go for dinner sometime :)
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Jan '13

cleverusername

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@hwyangel holy crud finally someone that read the bill and understood it. SEX for little kids is harmful hetro or otherwise. Those saying the bill says teachers tell parents if they think the child is just acting gay aren't reading the bill.
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Post @cleverusername
Jan '13

hwyangel

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@cleverusername

Most school councilors wouldn't know how to council someone that is gay so it makes more sense just to tell the parents.
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Jan '13

CommonSense

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@hwyangel
Expressions of love are not inappropriate for children, just expressions of sexuality.
It's commonsense that they'll tell them about it if they're really that serious at that young of an age. And finding that doesn't mean you must "discuss homosexuality" with the child, just that you'd have to discuss sexuality and that that is not appropriate at their age just like you would if you found them in a heterosexual situation.
This bill would have them telling parents if kids so much as hold hands or kiss each other on the cheek. When I was a kid two students, a boy and a girl held a fake marriage ceremony on the playground. This bill would require the teachers to treat this as a problem if the same thing happened with two same-sex students.
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Jan '13

cpeter133

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Christ, just hand each kid a gun and a bullet; I can't think of a worse school policy in terms of closeted kids. Unless those teachers ae having sex with the kids, they can't know for certain if the kid is gay. Nor shoulf teachers be informants against the kids.
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Jan '13
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Jan '13

Keyjo

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Don't be a hater!
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Jan '13

NotOfThisWorld

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Do you watch gay people have sex if not then don't worry about it. I have all kinds of straight friends but I don't think about what they do in bed. Thats gross to me. So now we're on the same page. ;)
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Jan '13

WattheTyler

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Hey maybe you should put bullet in your head mbill935. I really wish there was a hell because I would love to see you suffer in it.
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Jan '13

thatgirl

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What an ugly, hateful post.
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Jan '13

Keyjo

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@NotOfThisWorld
Yeah, I can relate. I too am pretty grossed out heterosexuality.
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Jan '13

Keyjo

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While I think that qualified teachers teaching appropriate sex education to 7th and 8th graders is a good idea, teachers have no reason to discuss an individual's orientation, presumed, suspected or known with the students unless the student requests counciling. And then it should be done with assurance of confidentiality.
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Jan '13

dances-weebles

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the problem is that now days some kids are becoming sexually active at that age, and they should enter into their sexual life well informed. you can't start teaching sex ed after the fact. by then you've got pregnant 12 and 13 year olds, or kids with stds. not only that, without proper education early on you'll have kids needing abortions, which is what they want to avoid, from what i hear.
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Post @dances-weebles
Jan '13

Keyjo

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@dances-weebles
That's true. I was active earlier than that. I had an 11 year old classmate who got pregnant.
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Jan '13

dances-weebles

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@Keyjo i know. you and half the kids out there.

a few years ago they had a problem with 7 and 8 year old boys dragging younger boys and a lot of girls into the bathrooms and forcing them to give them blow jobs. don't you think that a bit of education might be in order there?
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Post @dances-weebles
Jan '13

Keyjo

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@dances-weebles
Yes, but I think at age the parents SHOULD be accepting the responsibility.
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Jan '13

Keyjo

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@dances-weebles
Of course, come to think of it, my Father had "the talk" with me when I was 7 and I and some friends had already started "experimenting." But no one was ever forced,though there was some good natured depantsings on the playground.
Boys will be boys!
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Post @Keyjo
Jan '13

frigginhell

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"behavior injurious to the physical or mental health and well-being of the student or another person" So when the first lady wants kids to eat healthier lunches she's a nazi liberal propaganda devil out to destroy the snack food industry and end capitalism. However, a school principal is now able to make calls on the mental health and well being of your kids without any training to save them from being gay. Nice one Tennessee. It's hard to make Alabama look progressive but you guys are willing to try.
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Jan '13

Buckfan4life2

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My God,if any parent couldn't tell their kid is gay, they are not paying much attention or not taking much interest in their kid while they were growing up. I have called it on many when they were young and only wrong once,Maybe.
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Jan '13

falco_alba

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No teacher taught me about homosexuality but I knew it existed in 6th grade. God forbid these teachers tell the parents of a gay or lesbian kid.

Teenagers who are gay or lesbian are far more likely to become depressed and have higher rates of suicide attempts. Gays and lesbians make up up to 40% of homeless teenagers - after being kicked out of their homes or rejected by their communities.

So what, Tennessee wants to stack the deck against them? They cannot have it both ways - wanting the parents to teach their kids about it, but interfering if they find out themselves. All it becomes is a witch hunt, and the only people that get hurt are these adolescents with nowhere to go.
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Jan '13

Keyjo

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Good post.
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Jan '13

russ

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Is sexual orientation really an integral part of the educational process? Pushing reality under the carpet is pretty amusing.
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Jan '13

Zazziness

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So often when these stories come from the southern states, I can't help but hear the theme to The Beverly Hillbillies playing in the background...
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Jan '13

WattheTyler

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I was thinking more of the national anthem of Nazi Germany myself.
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Jan '13

Dan_Tien

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Funny. It makes me think of "Deliverance".
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Jan '13

DARSB

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"Paddle faster. I hear banjos!"
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Jan '13

cleverusername

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@Dan_Tien yep nothing funnier then anal rape. LOLOLOLOLOL
You people are to much.
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Jan '13

cleverusername

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@DARSB so again you dont want parents to be informed if their children are in harms way or harming....I wonder why that is. Do you work at a school and need to keep something secret?
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Jan '13

botsmom

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This is one of many BULLSHIT reasons good people steer away from teaching. Teachers should not be legally mandated to be cops, social workers, or sex therapists. Let teachers teach you buttinskis!
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Jan '13

cat2009

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Really you mean that you think the parents who raised their kid can't tell if they are gay. I would have more of a problem if my child had a gay teacher because then they could be talked to about the gay lifestyle.
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Jan '13

jamie91

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Generally those who don't know is because their kids hide it from them, usually for a very good reason. My partner told his parents when he was 26,and he still swears if his old man had been close to a gun he'd have been dead. As a kid he knew never to give his parents any reasons to wonder.
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Post @jamie91
Jan '13

Dan_Tien

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"...may be at risk of engaging in..." harmful behavior? Doesn't that just about include ALL kids?
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Jan '13

BelinKS

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If a kid is having a very hard time and depression is evident, I think the teacher should tell parents that the kid needs help. Kids are much more accepting of gay class mates than ever! I graduated in 1990. I had a male class mate that was gay. We loved him! But after we graduated and scattered to different universities and such. He lost his support system. His parents were not accepting of him being gay. He commited suicide. That was the parents! What I see happening is the students disapproving of this measure and straight kids making teachers thinking they were gay. A subterfuge you may say. The teacher will not know who is gay and who is not. My class of 1990 would have done this. These kids are far more progressive than we were. My son graduated in 2009. His class was very accepting of the few gay students. My son's best friend from when they were younger turned out to be gay. My son didn't do as much with him as they got older, but I think if his gay friend had been into 4 wheelers, working on their trucks, fishing and hunting they would have still hung out together. Their only link was that my son was a model. He could hardly wait for my son to show him the clothes that were coming, but not yet released. My son gave him some of the clothes that could fit his friend. My son was smaller than him. If this is passed, I see the kids trying to protect their gay friends! Especially if that friend's parent would go bizerk! My brother waited to tell my parents he was gay until he was grown and out of the house. My parents eventually accepted him, but did not approve of his lifestyle. The subject of a kids sexual orientation is none of the schools business unless it is obvious a kid is having trouble.
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Jan '13

BelinKS

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I forgot to add my 2 cents worth on the ages where homosexuality should be discussed. Social studies is exactly what it sounds like. Homosexuality should be addressed neutrally, but emphasis on not being prejudice or hate. I think 8th grade is a year to old. 7th grade would be good. Of course, parents should be the ones talking to their kids, but there are parents that have a strong hatred of gays. You would not be teaching true social studies if you pretend homosexuality is non-existent.
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Post @BelinKS
Jan '13

jessejaymes

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How does a teacher know who is gay and who isn't? I don't like effeminate men or masculine women but I learned my lesson many years ago when I always assumed that effeminate men were gay. The guy was married to a woman for 10 years, had two kids and happy as a clam. A swisher to be sure but totally heterosexual. Teachers don't know.
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Jan '13

BelinKS

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@jessejaymes
When a kid is openly gay away from home. Still none of the teachers business.
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Jan '13

marine1

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This crap is going to get so bad across the nation, we are all going to wish they would go back to don't ask,don't tell.
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Jan '13

Realthinker

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Kids don't need to know about homosexuality before the eighth grade, frankly. As far as the teachers telling the parents whether or not a child is homosexual, how do they plan to tell?
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Jan '13

Cheenoguy

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By the 8th grade kids know what homosexuality is. Hell if they have a curiosity they have probably seen videos online. Talk to your children about sex (including homosexuality) at a young age or some creep on the Internet will.
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Post @Cheenoguy
Jan '13

jessejaymes

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Really? I have a friend who's kid is in the sixth grade. Family computer got a virus. Repair store said it came from a porn site. Well the father is computer illiterate. The mother is a religious freak. The sister is 4 years old. You suppose we might have clue who was looking up porn? In the sixth grade.
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Jan '13

Realthinker

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@Cheenoguy They do because it is 'in your face'. It doesn't need to be. Our adolescent obsession with sex is affecting our children much too young.
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Jan '13

Realthinker

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@jessejaymes True story: my husband is a software engineer. He is also a musician on our church's praise team. One day at work (an info retreival firm) he was searching online for the tableture and lyrics to a rather old hymn. The name? "Let Me Touch Him". It took the help desk several hours to scrub the filth off his computer, his embarrassment was indescribable. The moral? The sixth grader may not have been actively looking for porn.
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Jan '13

Cheenoguy

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@Realthinker
The positive reality of free flowing information comes with downside of free flowing information.
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Jan '13

cleverusername

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Sounds good I hope it passes. Good for them!

Tell me again why it is wrong to inform a parent that their CHILD is or may by engaging in, behavior injurious to the physical or mental health and well- being of the student or another person. Please tell me as well why it IS necessary to discuss unnatural sex with CHILDREN?

"At grade levels pre-K through eight (pre-K-8), any such classroom instruction, course materials or other informational resources that are inconsistent with natural human reproduction shall be classified as inappropriate for the intended student audience and, therefore, shall be prohibited."
"School counselors, nurses, principals and assistant principals can talk to students about human sexuality if a student is "engaging in, or may be at risk of engaging in, behavior injurious to the physical or mental health and well- being of the student or another person," according to the bill. However, the measure provides that "Parents or legal guardians of such students shall be notified as soon as practicable of the circumstances requiring intervention."
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Jan '13

Speedieg

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Your a real thinker. I see major awards in your future.
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Jan '13

Gtiallday

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Maybe because being gay isnt "injurious to the physical or mental health and well- being of the student or another person." Numb nuts.
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Jan '13

cleverusername

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@Gtiallday where exactly does it say being gay is? it does not. Not at all. Numb nuts!
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Post @cleverusername
Jan '13

Gtiallday

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@cleverusername Are you kidding? First, read the title of the artical.

Now read your quote "Sounds good I hope it passes. Good for them!"

Followed by " Tell me again why it is wrong to inform a parent that their CHILD is or may by engaging in, behavior injurious to the physical or mental health and well- being of the student or another person."
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Post @Gtiallday
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Jan '13

cleverusername

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@Gtiallday the title of he article? Really? I read the bill I don't care about politixmary's biased side and how she words it wrongly.
Again why are you quoting what I said I know what I said and I stand by it .politixmary and this story by her is worded wrong out of bias or just a flat out lie on purpose either way it is BS.
So one again....where exactly does it say being gay is? it does not. Not at all. Numb nuts!
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Post @cleverusername
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Is it a good idea to have teachers tell parents if they suspect their child is gay?

Is it a good idea to have teachers tell parents if they suspect their child is gay?