{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-introduces-bill-to-prevent-schools-from-concealing-gender-transitions-from-parents", "Cotton Introduces Bill to Prevent Schools from Concealing Gender Transitions from Parents", "2021-10-21", "2021", "2021-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: James Arnold or Mary Collins Atkinson (202) 224-2353\n\nOctober 21, 2021\n\nCotton Introduces Bill to Prevent Schools from Concealing Gender Transitions from Parents\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today introduced the Empower Parents to Protect Their Kids Act, legislation that would prevent K-12 schools from performing a \u201cgender transition\u201d on children behind their parents\u2019 backs. This bill would also empower parents to sue schools that violate this Act by hiding or withholding information about their child\u2019s \u201ctransition.\u201d Bill text may be found here.\n\n\u201cSchools should never be allowed to impose radical, harmful ideologies on children\u2014especially without parents\u2019 knowledge and consent. My bill will protect students and ensure that parents are in control of their children\u2019s education. Schools must remain institutions of education, not indoctrination camps where minors are manipulated and brainwashed,\u201d said Cotton.\n\nThis bill would ensure that all federally funded elementary school and secondary school employees abide by the following requirements regarding minor students:\n\nReceive parental consent before facilitating a student\u2019s gender transition in any way.\n\nDo not withhold information from parents or coerce students to withhold information from their parents about their purported gender identity.\n\nDo not pressure parents or students to proceed with a gender transition.\n\nThe American Principles Project, Heritage Action, The Ethics and Public Policy Center, and Parents Defending Education Action support this bill.\n\nBackground:\n\nPublic schools have adopted radical policies to allow students of any age to change their name, pronouns, gender identity, and even sex-based accommodations (e.g. locker rooms) without telling parents. Schools are deliberately hiding these changes from parents. The following are examples of these egregious policies:\n\nNew Jersey\u2019s statewide policy: \u201cA school district shall accept a student\u2019s asserted gender identity; parental consent is not required.\u201d\n\nMadison, Wisconsin\u2019s district policy: \u201cSchool staff shall not disclose any information that may reveal a student\u2019s gender identity to others, including parents or guardians.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:24:51Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-introduces-bill-to-prevent-schools-from-concealing-gender-transitions-from-parents"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8243720512837172, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}