Restrictive sex education bill passes committee

HB 3120 says only procreative sex within the context of heterosexual marriage should be taught in Oklahoma public schools.

March 1, 2024

Legislation that would prohibit any sex education curricula outside the concept of heterosexual marriage and bar teaching students about the legal definition of consent passed a House committee on February 20.

HB 3120 by Representative Danny Williams (R-Seminole) advanced to the House floor after narrowly passing in the House General Government Committee. Republican Representative Nick Archer joined Democratic representatives Cyndi Munson and Jared Deck in voting against the bill, which would drastically change how sex education is taught in public schools.

Williams presented the bill as a simple change that would require parents to opt-in to sex education classes rather than opt-out, which is the current law. He also said that teachers and administrators should not be held accountable for using pronouns that align with a student’s biological sex at birth. “Parents should know what their children are being asked to be involved in, and I think we’ve walked away from that,” Williams said. “I think it ought to be a quality decision based on education and knowledge so that the parent knows what they’re doing when they make the decision for their child. That puts a little more involvement with the parent on this.”

Munson, the House minority leader, challenged Williams on a section of the legislation that would remove a requirement in the law for sex educators to teach students the legal criminal definition of consent in Oklahoma. “I’m really concerned about the work that has been done around consent and better educating young people about what consent is, so they know to have autonomy over their own bodies and protect themselves.”

According to Munson, one out of every five Oklahoma students has reported having experienced some form of sexual violence. “Don’t you think that students should be taught what consent is and how to protect themselves?” she asked.

Williams, seventy-four, replied that when he was young, consent was not something taught in public schools. “I know things have changed some and that people make different decisions,” he said. “But I still think it’s the parent’s and guardian’s responsibility to decide how that’s going to be dealt with, whether it be in their home or with their church.”

Deck pointed out that since evidence-based, medically factual sex education curricula has been taught in public schools (often through contracted sex education nonprofits), Oklahoma’s teen birth rate dropped between 1996 and 2020. Conversely, sexually transmitted infections have increased in rural Oklahoma among older residents who perhaps did not benefit from sex education when they attended public schools.

Williams responded that he was not convinced there exists a correlation between sex education and teen birth rates. “Pregnancy rates go up and down,” he said. “I’m not sure that the education in this way has really contributed directly to the reduction.”

According to Honestly, an Oklahoma City-based youth sexual health nonprofit committed to an inclusive and judgment-free approach to adolescent health, Oklahoma has the fourth highest teen birth rate in the United States, but Oklahoma County’s teen birth rate has decreased by 54 percent since 2012. “There is causal evidence that funding for more comprehensive sex education leads to an overall reduction in the teen birth rate at the county level,” a fact sheet on Honestly’s website states.

The bill, which would amend the state’s Parents’ Bill of Rights law, is remarkable in that it lays out specifically what curricula may be taught in public sex education classes, including:

· Requiring that males and females be defined in static, unchangeable biological terms, omitting ideas of nonbinary or transgender people;

· Teaching abstinence from sexual activity outside of “monogamous heterosexual marriage” as the expected standard;

· Emphasizing that abstinence from sexual activity is the only “certain” way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS, and other associated health problems; and,

· Teaching that sexual identity and sexual expression is within the binary concept of male and female, emphasizing the biological basis of sex.

The legislation specifically bars certain subjects from sex education curricula, including:

· Advocacy of sexual activity outside of marriage;

· Advocacy of any form of sexual activity that deviates from the sexual norms within a traditional family structure;

· Endorsement of promotion of non-heterosexual orientations as preferable to heterosexual orientations;

· Teaching of gender identity and gender expression outside the binary concept of male and female;

· Teaching of “consent and negotiation skills for sexual activity”; and,

· Teaching that advocates the pursuit of sexual pleasure outside the context of marriage.

Rather than giving parents the freedom to decide what kind of sex education their children receive in public schools, Munson asserted that Williams is seeking to codify his own beliefs about sex education. “You’re putting your own beliefs here, and you even remove health departments who actually have data and training and knowledge on these subjects,” she said. “You are telling schools what they should teach. You’re not actually giving parents an option.”

HB 3120 is now eligible to be heard on the House floor.

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