Sununu will let parents pull students from classes if gender, sexual orientation mentioned

Amidst recent Republican attacks on classroom teaching, a New Hampshire law will now require public school teachers to send parents a two-week notice before teaching any topics that could include mentions of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. 

HB 1312 expands New Hampshire’s current parental notification law—signed in 2017—which required teachers to notify parents prior to teaching lessons about human sexuality in a health or biology class. The new version of the law now allows parents to exempt students from English language arts and social studies lessons that may include gender and sexual orientation concepts. 

That could leave students in the dark about historical moments and context informing the literary and cultural movements taught in those classes.

“Let’s be clear. The adoption of HB 1312 is yet another attempt to chill classroom conversations, just like the similarly vague and unworkable “banned concepts” law which was recently ruled unconstitutional,”said Megan Tuttle, president of NEA- New Hampshire.  

The law will go into effect Sept. 17.