Dupage Policy Journal

Downers Grove Republican Laura Hois is slamming Illinois House Majority Leader Greg Harris (D-Chicago) for criticizing a bill in Florida that disallows public schools from discussing sexual orientation with young children. 

Hois said she supports Florida's Parental Rights in Education bill.

“I am 100% in favor of the Florida bill banning discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms K thru 3rd grade," Hois told DuPage Policy Journal. "This is sexual grooming that is entirely inappropriate in schools, even for 4th thru 12th grades. Harris should be ashamed of himself for making the comments he did supporting LGBTQ influencers and politicians. They are part of the reason families are leaving Illinois in droves. Illinoisans need God back in our lives to protect precious children.”

Harris rejected the measure and promoted the LGBTQ community after Florida legislators favored the bill in a tweet saying in part that "I'm proud that in Illinois we protect our LGBTQ families."

The Florida House passed the Parental Rights in Education bill 69-47, while the Florida Senate passed it 22-17. It will be implemented on July 1, 2022.

The bill's text reads that "classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

Adults engaging with young children about sex, according to Kristin Jenson of Defend Young Minds, an anti-child-sex-abuse organization, is a "grooming behavior... parents should recognize."

Last year, the inclusion of the graphic arts novel Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe in libraries across the state caused an uproar at the local school board level. The book, which includes illustrated scenes of graphic gay sex, has been the source of controversy. Parents have pointed to Kobabe’s work as gratuitously sexual and unnecessary for schoolchildren. Many communities in Illinois, such as those parents in Downers Grove 99, are questioning its place and the place for other such books in public education.