Arizona Students Walk Out of Class to Protest Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws
At Hamilton High School in Arizona last week, more than a hundred students joined others at several schools across the state to skip class.Students there staged a walkout at several schools to protest two laws that took effect in the state, which critics say target LGBTQ+ young people.The GOP-controlled state legislature passed a record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills this year, prompting hundreds of Arizona high schoolers to walk out of their schools, Phoenix New Times reports.Armed with bullhorns and their own feet, students marched out of classes on Thursday to show their solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community."These bills are killing us," 16-year-old Chandler, Ariz., student Dawn Shim said, according to the Phoenix New Times. "We aren't out here missing our school day and interrupting our education because we want to.
We have been forced into it."Several walkouts took place throughout the state, including the Hamilton walkout, from Flagstaff to Phoenix.The walkouts were organized by Support Equality Arizona Schools, an organization that focuses on the new laws.
Shim founded the group with other student activists.In the last legislative session, Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, signed House Bill 2495 and House Bill 2161 into law, which took effect several days ago.
With House Bill 2495, public schools will no longer be able to distribute materials or books with sexual content, which is loosely defined, the paper reports.
