Louisiana HB 121: EDUCATION: Provides relative to the use of certain names and pronouns for students

Bill Text

ENROLLED
ACT No. 680
2024 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 121
BY REPRESENTATIVES CREWS, AMEDEE, EDMONSTON, FIRMENT,
MCCORMICK, AND SCHAMERHORN AND SENATORS ABRAHAM, BASS,
CLOUD, EDMONDS, HODGES, MIGUEZ, SEABAUGH, AND STINE
1 AN ACT
2 To enact R.S. 17:2122 and 3996(B)(82), relative to education; to provide with respect to the
3 use of certain names and pronouns for students and employees; to prohibit public
4 school governing authorities from adopting certain policies; to provide with respect
5 to school employees; to provide with respect to students; to provide for remedies and
6 corrective actions; to require each public school governing authority to adopt
7 policies; to provide for civil liability; and to provide for related matters.
8 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
9 Section 1. This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Given Name Act".
10 Section 2.(A) The legislature finds that:
11 (1) The Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of
12 America protects the right of parents to direct the care, upbringing, education, and
13 welfare of their children.
14 (2) The United States Supreme Court has held that: "[T]he Due Process
15 Clause does not permit a State to infringe on the fundamental right of parents to
16 make child rearing decisions simply because a state judge believes a 'better' decision
17 could be made". Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57, at 72-73 (plurality op.).
18 (3) The United States Supreme Court has explained that the liberty specially
19 protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the
20 Constitution of the United States of America includes the right "to direct the
21 education and upbringing of one's children". Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S.
22 702, 720 (1997).
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1 (4) In Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (2006), the United States Supreme
2 Court has held that public employees do not retain First Amendment protection for
3 speech uttered in the context of their official duties as they are not speaking as public
4 citizens.
5 (5) Individuals under the age of eighteen are minors, and the courts have
6 recognized their immaturity and the unique nature of the public school setting.
7 (6) However, the United States Supreme Court has also recognized "it can
8 hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to
9 freedom of speech of expression at the schoolhouse gate. This has been the
10 unmistakable holding of this Court for almost 50 years." Tinker v. Des Moines
11 Indep. Cmty. Sch. Dist., 393 U.S. 503, 506 (1969).
12 (7) And under the First Amendment, "the government may not compel a
13 person to speak its own preferred messages. Nor does it matter whether the
14 government seeks to compel a person to speak its message when he would prefer to
15 remain silent or to force an individual to include other ideas with his own speech that
16 he would prefer not to include." 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, 600 U.S. 570, 586
17 (2023).
18 (B) It is the intent of the legislature that the public education system uphold
19 the constitutional and long-recognized rights of parents, students, and teachers within
20 the context of public education.
21 Section 3. R.S. 17:2122 and 3996(B)(82) are hereby enacted to read as follows:
22 §2122. Pronouns and names; biological sex; parental permission; policies
23 A. As used in this Section, the following terms have the following meanings:
24 (1) "Employee" means any individual working in any capacity at a public
25 school including but not limited to teachers and other school employees, school bus
26 operators, extracurricular personnel, and independent contractors.
27 (2) "Legal name" means a person’s name as may be evidenced on his
28 original birth certificate issued at or near the time of birth.
29 (3) "Parent" means a student's parent or legal guardian.
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1 (4) "Sex" means a person's immutable biological sex, either female or male,
2 as may be evidenced on his original birth certificate issued at or near the time of
3 birth.
4 (a) "Female" means an individual whose biological reproductive system is
5 developed to produce ova and who has, had, will have, or would have, but for a
6 developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident, the reproductive system
7 that at some point produces, transports, and utilizes eggs for fertilization.
8 (b) "Male" means an individual whose biological reproductive system is
9 developed to fertilize the ova of a female who has had, will have, or would have, but
10 for a developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident, the reproductive
11 system that at some point produces, transports, and utilizes sperm for fertilization.
12 (5) "Student" means a person e