Lawmakers in three Republican-led states backed legislation this year to let parents take children out of classes covering LGBTQ+ identity – a step critics said will deprive gay and transgender youth of vital information and fuel discrimination.
The governors of Arizona and Arkansas later vetoed their bills, fearing legal challenges, but Tennessee’s sex education law came into force in May, with conservatives hailing it as a boost to parental rights and religious freedoms.
LGBTQ+ rights campaigners now worry that the school curriculum will increasingly be targeted by those pushing for a broad rollback on gay and trans rights, echoing a similar tussle in some eastern European countries. “Discriminatory legislators may be emboldened by the