Georgia bill dies that sought to curb gender talk in schools

Protesters hold up signs opposing a bill regulating discussion of gender identity in schools on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, at the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta. The Senate Education and Youth Committee voted to table the bill after conservatives also expressed opposition. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)

A Georgia bill aimed at stopping teachers from talking to students about gender identity died an unexpected death Wednesday after conservative groups joined LGBTQ advocates in opposing the measure.

Senate Bill 88, after multiple rewrites, called for public and private schools and camps to get parental involvement before talking about issues of gender identity. Sen. Carden Summers, a Cordele Republican sponsoring the measure, had said it was needed to keep teachers from indoctrinating their students about changing gender identity and to keep teachers from hiding a student’s gender identity change from parents.

But Mike Griffin, the lobbyist for Georgia Southern Baptists testified that although he supports Summers’ aims, that Baptists objected to the language in the bill.