More than 100 Alaskans spoke out against a “parental rights” bill proposed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, in a wave of opposition to the legislation that many said would harm already vulnerable transgender youths.
Of the 119 Alaskans who spoke during the nearly five-hour hearing held last Thursday evening by the House Education Committee, 103 opposed the bill and only 16 were in favor of it.
Apayauq Reitan, the first openly transgender woman to run the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, was one of many gender nonconforming individuals who said the bill would make life more difficult for children unfamiliar with different gender expressions — like she once had been.
“I never saw girls like me. By the time I was realizing I’m trans by researching online, I had already gone through a testosterone puberty. I wish I would have learned about trans people before that happened,” Reitan said before waving the transgender pride flag she had carried at the Iditarod finish line last year.
The measure at the center of Thursday’s hearing, House Bill 105, mirrors legislation proposed in several states that opponents say would harm vulnerable LGBTQ+ kids under the guise of parental rights.
Alaska’s version would ban gender nonconforming students from using bathrooms according to their gender identity; require parental permission for students to use a different name or pronouns in school; require schools to share children’s medical records with parents and guardians; allow parents to sue schools when that requirement is violated; ban all sexual education before fourth grade; and require students to obtain parental permission in order to participate in any sexual or gender education from fourth grade onward.
Dunleavy, a Republican, and supporters of his bill have said it would protect the rights of parents to control their children’s education. But state law already spells out the rights of parents to review their child’s school curriculum and pull them out of any class or activity.
The Alaska Senate, governed by a bipartisan majority coalition, has already indicated they are unlikely to pass the bill. But some opponents of the measure said its mere introduction has already made some transgender children in the state feel less safe and has served as a distraction from the more important conversation about funding for public education and the state’s fiscal challenges.
The Alaska measure joins a growing number of bills introduced by Republican governors and lawmakers across the country, operating under the title of “parental rights” to limit the ability of transgender students to access single-sex facilities and to limit instruction on gender and sexual identities in public schools.
In a marathon testimony session that began shortly after 5 p.m. and lasted past 10 p.m., opponents of Dunleavy’s proposal said that by “outing” children who come from unaccepting homes, schools could expose children to violence and rejection. Opponents also said that transgender youths — already more susceptible to suicide and homelessness — would be less safe if the bill were to become law.
And some survivors of sexual assault said that in a state with exceedingly high rates of sexual violence, the bill would make it harder to prevent abuse.
“After reviewing and parsing this bill, I don’t think that it’s actually about parents’ rights. At least it won’t give them any rights that they don’t already have,” said James Selvog, a transgender man and teaching aide from Kodiak who addressed the committee by phone in the third hour of the hearing.
“I’ve met countless people who have had to leave or have been dumped out on the street or have been physically, sexually, emotionally abused by unaccepting family,” Selvog said.
Kendra Arciniega, who is queer and grew up in Alaska, said that as a student, she was outed by a teacher before she was ready.
“My younger self deserved better,” she said.
Dunleavy has said the bill is not intended as an attack on transgender or queer students, but countless opponents said it would do just that. And the few supporters of the bill cited anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment as part of the reason for their approval of the measure.
Pamela Samash of Nenana said her Christian family was “personally persecuted by the LGBTQ in our school” after her daughter refused to call a classmate by their chosen name when that classmate began identifying as transgender.
Melody McCullough of Wasilla asked lawmakers to “stop the DIE indoctrination,” referring to diversity, equity and inclusion programs that have been turned into a target by Republicans nationally.
The bill is not scheduled for any additional hearings this week, but could be taken up later in the month.
Senate President Gary Stevens of Kodiak said earlier last week that regardless of whether the bill receives a hearing in the Senate, it is unlikely to advance in his chamber.
The bipartisan Senate majority — made up of nine Democrats and eight Republicans — vowed earlier in the session to steer clear of “things that are far left or far right,” Stevens said.
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