This self-hating gay man is spearheading Georgia’s “Don’t Say Gay” initiative

Senators in Georgia have advanced what many LGBTQ+ advocates are calling its answer to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The bill’s (SB 88) official name is the “Parents and Children Protection Act.”

It would force schools to get written permission from parents if they want to talk to kids about “issues of gender identity, queer theory, gender ideology or gender transition.”

Schools would also not be allowed to change a child’s name or records without consulting parents. Opponents say it would basically force schools to out trans kids to their parents.

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Lawmakers in the Peach State have been trying to pass legislation similar to this for the past three years. There has been to-ing and fro-ing over whether the legislation should apply to both public and private schools. The latest reworking of the legislation covers both types of schools. It has removed some of the language around sexuality. However, it still restricts schools in the support they might extend to kids questioning their gender identity.

On Tuesday, the Senate held a committee hearing. Several people who support the bill spoke out in its defense. Despite a crowd turning up for the hearing, nobody who opposed the bill was allowed to speak. Afterwards, lawmakers advanced the legislation on a 6-3 vote along party lines.

​​Atlanta Democratic Sen. Elena Parent said the decision not to allow opponents to voice their opinion, despite many being present, seemed “fundamentally unfair,” reports the Georgia Recorder.

Republican Sen. Clint Dixon, the committee chair, defended the decision.

“We’ve had four public hearings that have gone for hours,” he said. “And we’ve vetted this bill very extensively. It’s changed quite a bit based on each public hearing, so the bill we’ve got in front of us is because of all the public comment that we’ve heard over the past year. So this bill, in my opinion, has been vetted very thoroughly.”

“Indoctrinating kids”

One of those to speak in favor of the legislation was gay attorney Jeff Cleghorn. On his X bio, Cleghorn describes himself as a “1990’s gay rights advocate fighting against Queer ideology.”

He has previously described trans people as “mentally ill sex fetishists.”

“SB 88 is necessary because the former gay rights movement has been hijacked by those pushing this dishonest gender ideology on children,” he said during his allocated time spot.

“This is about indoctrinating kids into a belief system that is not real.”

He claimed trans advocates were “piggybacking” on the success of the gay rights movement.

“Do not let schools teach kids to keep secrets from their parents. These are not Georgia values.”

Cleghorn also pointed to the fact that a SubReddit about destransitioning has 52,000 members. He suggested many young people regret embarking on transition.

Although the Subreddit in question has many members, that doesn’t mean they all wish to detransition or have done so. In fact, the latest US Transgender Survey, which polled 92,000 trans Americans found the vast majority felt happier after embarking on their transition.

Ninety-four percent “who lived at least some of the time in a different gender than the one they were assigned at birth reported that they were either ‘a lot more satisfied’ (79%) or ‘a little more satisfied’ (15%) with their life. Three percent (3%) reported that transitioning gender made them ‘neither more nor less satisfied’ with their life, 1% were ‘a little less satisfied’, and 2% were ‘a lot less satisfied’ with their life.”

Log Cabin Republicans

Besides Cleghorn, the Washington Blade reports that the other people allowed to speak were a former president of the Young Republicans, a representative from Gays Against Groomers, and a representative from the Georgia Log Cabin Republicans.

Human Rights Campaign Georgia Director Bentley Hudgins turned up to speak against the bill. However, they were not allowed to do so.

“Senate Bill 88 is a clear attempt by lawmakers to reframe curriculum censorship as parental involvement,” they said afterward. “We know that Georgia schools are no place for curriculum censorship and for discrimination against trans and non-binary students. A few lawmakers see a political upside in attacking LGBTQ+ young people, but this is the fourth time that this legislation came into committee, and the only time that it passed out of this committee was when they shut out a dozen of the people who came here to speak against it.”

Although the bill passed along party lines, it is not supported by all Republicans. Some conservatives want private schools to be exempt, so SB 88’s future remains unclear.

The next step for SB 88 is for it to pass the full Senate before February, 29. If that happens, it will go to the House for debate and approval.

Related:

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