Senate Bill (SB) 150 is a law that focuses on changing school rules regarding transgender children and their parents, paraded as a bill to protect parental rights and children. The 13 Republican sponsors named the bill “AN ACT relating to children.”
It was introduced to the Senate on Feb. 8, 2023, and passed eight days later. It was received in the House the next day, who passed it on March 16 of 2023. The bill arrived to Gonvener Andy Beshear and was vetoed on March 24, though the veto was overruled by both the Senate and the House on the 29th.
The bill limits a school’s ability to provide LGBTQ+ students with identity affirming environments, including actions such as using preferred pronouns without informing their parents. Many schools have previously withheld this information from legal guardians in the case that they would pose a mental or physical danger to the child. Senate Bill 150 also limits what can be taught in schools, amending a previous bill in order to “establish requirements for any public school’s course, curriculum, or program on the subject of human sexuality.”
The proposed amendments within SB 150 are even more extreme, allowing parents to decide what name and pronouns their child can use at school. According to the amendments, this would require the Kentucky Department of Education to use the student information system “…to track the number of students for whom public schools have received a request to use pronouns that do not conform to the student’s biological sex.” This addition would make it easier for a student’s transgender identity to be shared against their wishes.
The Jefferson County Public School Board was alarmed by how the bill targeted LGBTQ+ kids. Although the board must follow the rules set in place by Senate Bill 150, it is still working to support transgender students.
To circumvent SB 150, the JCPS School Board is using malicious compliance. Malicious compliance is the act of following a superior’s orders, but in a way that causes unwanted – or even outright negative – results. In this case, JCPS is more broadly interpreting SB 150.
The JCPS School Board is using other rules and laws relating to students and education to protect their LGBTQ+ students, such as defining gender dysphoria as a disability, which allows “…accommodations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.” Such accommodations include the use of a preferred restroom or pronouns, which SB 150 explicitly prohibits.
Additionally, intentional and repeated misgendering can be punished by JCPS, who stated that it “may constitute a violation of the Professional Code of Ethics for Kentucky Certified Personnel, adding a provision that such conduct shall be reported to the Education Professional Standards Board.”
It is unknown if the JCPS board will take any further steps against SB 150.
