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Speaker Kevin Cotter
One thing is for certain: Some state Republican lawmakers aren't very open minded, particularly when it comes to people who deviate from the ideal American family.
The state GOP is lashing out at the Michigan Department of Education, which is recommending that public schools adopt transgender-friendly policies but refrain from unilaterally telling parents if students identify with a gender they didn’t have at birth, Jonathan Oosting of the Detroit News reports.
The News writes that a House appropriations subcommittee on Wednesday stripped from a budget bill all travel and per-diem funding for the Democrat-dominated State Board of Education. The Republican chairman called it a “a message” to department members who will consider the draft recommendation on May 10.
The News reports:
The amendment, approved in a party-line vote, came one day after House Speaker Kevin Cotter, R-Mount Pleasant, blasted the Education Department’s draft guidance memorandum as “a poorly written and poorly thought-out proposal that takes away the rights of parents and upsets the privacy and safety of Michigan’s children.”
The proposal suggests school staff around Michigan address transgender students by their chosen names and corresponding “he” or “she” pronouns, allow them to use bathrooms and locker rooms in accordance with their stated gender identity and let them participate in corresponding sports programs.