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Barto, Nancy; AZ State Sen (R-Phx)

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Shame on Barto

Conservative Arizona legislator creating “gag rules” on free speech.

The prohibition, which effectively serves as a “gag rule” on free speech, would not only apply to sex education classes, but social studies or history classes dealing with facially-neutral, widely-accepted historical facts. For instance, the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Nancy Barto (R-Phoenix), said during debate that parents would have to “opt in” before a teacher referenced an event — even in passing, let alone as part of the curriculum — like the 1969 Stonewall riots, the seminal event credited with sparking the modern-era LGBTQ rights movement. 1

Two years after Arizona lawmakers repealed a ban on any HIV/AIDS instruction that “promotes a homosexual lifestyle” as they faced a lawsuit, they have approved revamping the state’s sex education laws to make them some of the strictest in the nation when it comes to teaching about LGBTQ issues. 2

  • Youth Oppression

    Shame on the Arizona State Legislature

    How curious that the Arizona state legislature lodged no concerns over students learning in history classes about white men engaging in horrific wars or Friday night football contests where young male gladiators bash one another into brain damaging frenzies, but, rather, it attempts to further mystify, marginalize, and place off limits and penalize (to use the football metaphor) people and communities who express love and relationships allegedly differently from those in positions of power. 3

    1. Metro Weekly, John Riley, April 16, 2021 – Arizona Republicans approve bill requiring parental permission before teaching LGBTQ content – Bill seeks to restrict teachers from mentioning LGBTQ-related issues in class, even if raised in historical context.
    2. The Associated Press, Bob Christie, April 14, 2021 – Conservatives propose revised sex ed rules in LGBTQ pushback
    3. The Good Men Project, Warren Blumenfeld, April 17, 2021 – Arizona Anti-LGBTQ Classroom Bill a Form of Youth Oppression – The bill is applicable to any courses of instruction from sex education to history and civics and literature.