The House of Representatives passed a bill late Wednesday that would force public school teachers to out transgender students to their parents. The vote was not strictly along party lines, as eight Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the legislation.
Democrats Who Voted for the Bill
Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Donald Davis (N.C.), Cleo Fields (La.), Laura Gillen (N.Y.), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) and Eugene Vindman (Va.) all voted in favor of the bill. Notably, three of these Democrats — Gillen, Gluesenkamp Perez and Vindman — are members of the Congressional Equality Caucus, which advocates for LGBTQ+ rights.
Key Provisions of the Bill
The Republican-backed bill, titled the Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act, requires elementary and middle schools to obtain parental consent before changing a student's pronouns or preferred names on school forms or making gender-based accommodations for facilities like locker rooms or bathrooms. It also prohibits teachers from discussing transgender people or issues in the classroom, effectively banning books that include transgender characters or address the existence of transgender individuals. Additionally, it would outlaw LGBTQ+ school groups.
The bill is built around the phrase "gender ideology," as defined in President Donald Trump's January 2025 executive order, "Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government." This term is not used by the LGBTQ+ community but by conservatives who argue that being transgender is an ideology rather than an intrinsic identity.
Reactions from Supporters and Opponents
HuffPost reached out to all eight Democrats who voted for the bill. Most did not immediately respond. Vindman, however, issued a statement: "As a dad to two public school kids, I believe parents must be included in their children's decisions in school. Whether it's what they put on their school forms, their academic performance, or athletics, parents need to be at the center because that is the key to every child's success. There are other policies in the bill I don't agree with and will work to change, but I voted today to make sure parents like me can continue to support their kids at school, and I believe to my core that is what our kids need."
All but Fields represent swing districts, with Cuellar, Davis, Gonzalez, Kaptur and Gluesenkamp Perez considered particularly vulnerable in upcoming elections. Fields' safely Democratic district may be eliminated by GOP gerrymandering, though he could run in a more conservative seat.
Republicans, facing public backlash on issues like inflation and immigration, continue to believe they have an advantage on transgender issues, especially regarding schools and sports. Vulnerable Democrats are likely to face attack ads on transgender issues in the fall.
Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus and a former educator, said the bill puts transgender youth at serious risk. He noted that 40% of homeless youth are LGBTQ+, largely due to family rejection. "Republicans claim to be the party of small government, but they have no problem bringing the full force of the federal government down against children," Takano said. "The GOP thinks they can legislate transgender people out of existence with this inhumane 'Don't Say Trans' bill, but all they're doing is making life worse for a small minority of already-vulnerable children."
A caucus spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about three of its members voting for the bill.
Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), a co-sponsor, hailed the House passage, saying it would stop schools from "sidelining parents and concealing critical information about their children, replacing parental authority with bureaucratic control."
Outlook in the Senate
The bill is unlikely to pass the Senate, if it comes up at all. Several Democratic senators would need to vote with Republicans to overcome a 60-vote filibuster, which is improbable. Moreover, outing transgender kids does not top voters' concerns about affordability, the Iran war, and President Donald Trump's actions. The Senate is currently focused on a $72 billion budget reconciliation package and efforts to end the Iran war.
Tyler Hack, executive director of the Christopher Street Project, which helps elect transgender people to office, called the House vote "yet another escalation in Republicans' sick obsession with criminalizing queer people and trans youth." He added, "Every student deserves the dignity and freedom to decide when — and to whom — they share who they are. At a time when politicians should be focused on lowering costs and supporting working families, they are instead targeting queer and trans people — using them as political props in a cynical strategy to divide the country."
