New proposal looks to legislate how teachers address students

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - While at school, students may want to be called by pronouns different than the ones they were assigned at birth. But some lawmakers believe that should have no place in the classroom.

“That’s not really of interest to the student at this point, and it’s not the purpose of the school,” said State Rep. Raymond Crews (R) of Bossier City.

Rep. Crews’ bill would require public school employees to use the name and pronouns of a student that aligns with the student’s birth certificate and sex unless a parent gives written permission saying otherwise.

“Because we’ve got a problem with both how teachers have to handle things and of course, parental rights is always a continuing problem. So, I definitely thought this was something that needed to be addressed and to take care of kids, address parent’s rights and address the teacher challenges,” Rep. Crews explained.

The bill goes on to say a teacher shall not be required to use a student’s preferred pronouns if it goes against their religious or moral convictions, even if the parent gives permission.

“It sure does. You know, the first and primary duty of government is to protect our rights. So, one of those rights is freedom of expression and freedom of belief, and freedom of speech. So, we still want to preserve that for the teachers,” Rep. Crews added.

In a statement, Peyton Rose Michelle with Louisiana Trans Advocates said the following:

Lawmakers will debate how to move forward once the regular session starts on April 10.

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