Georgia version of ‘Don’t say Gay’ bill likely not to get very far in General Assembly

ATLANTA — We’ve seen students across Florida protesting what opponents call the “Don’t Say Gay” law, and now, we’ve learned Georgia lawmakers have introduced their own version of that bill here.

Channel 2′s Justin Wilfon spent the day at the State Capitol Thursday and learned the bill takes on a lot of hot button issues, including discussing gender identity in schools.

Wilfon said Gov. Brian Kemp did not seem too anxious to talk about this so-called “Don’t say Gay” bill, which seems to closely mirror the bill already passed by the legislature in Florida.

Shortly after qualifying for re-election and celebrating with his supporters, Kemp was asked about the recently proposed Senate Bill 613.

“Look, I just got back in town late last night. I haven’t seen what happened yesterday. This is all part of the legislative process,” Kemp said.

Wilfon obtained a copy of the bill, which is co-sponsored by 10 Republican Georgia state senators.

It seems to closely mirror Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill which passed in the Florida legislature just this week.

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Georgia’s version of the bill specifically aims banning teachers in private schools from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity with younger students.

Wilfon contacted the executive director of Georgia Equality about the bill. He sent Wilfon a statement, saying:

“The Georgia Don’t Say Gay bill is government sanctioned censorship, explicitly targeting LGBTQ students.”

The bill also claims that some Georgia private schools have embraced Critical Race Theory and encourages those schools to remove it from their curriculum.

Wilfon also attempted to contact all 10 senators sponsoring the bill, but so far none have agreed to talk with us.

However, Georgia House Speaker David Ralston seemed to have little interest in pushing the bill forward.

“I don’t read Senate bills until they get over here. If it gets over here, I’ll take a look at it. It doesn’t sound like something that is very high on my agenda,” Ralston said.

With the bill being introduced so late in the legislative session, it’s unlikely it will pass this year, but it could be a big issue later this year on the campaign trail.

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