WATCH: 'Don't Say Gay' bill up for debate in committee

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) - The Committee on Education is gathering at 9 a.m. in Committee Room 1.

One bill that is on the agenda is HB837.

HB837 was authored by Representative Dodie Horton and if passed it would prohibit classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in certain grade levels."

The bill, also known as the 'Don't Say Gay' bill, would also "prohibit teachers and others from discussing their sexual orientation or gender identity with students."

HB837 was introduced into the state legislature on Thursday, March 17.

During the meeting Rep. Horton explained that the bill is meant to prohibit instructors from deviating from their curriculum to discuss sexual orientation in Kindergarten through eighth grade classrooms.

Rep. Horton used an example to support the bill, stating that if a Muslim student were to ask their teacher a question about Islam versus Christianity during a Math class, the teacher would stay on topic.

She went on to say that teachers should do the same when the topic of sexual orientation is brought up in the classroom. Instead of veering off-topic, the teacher should steer the classroom discussion back to the approved curriculum.

That said, discussing the topic outside of the classroom is not prohibited.

She says it would not prohibit private conversations between students and teachers, just in class. She says parents are allowed to opt out of sex Ed and that they should be able to opt out of these kinds of conversations

— Shannon Heckt (@ShannonHeckt) May 3, 2022

The committee meeting is being live streamed in the video player above.