Maryland Freedom Caucus fights back against progressive legislation

House Bill 161

MARYLAND – Lawmakers in the Maryland Senate are at odds over age-appropriate education.

One down, One to go

House Bill 380 dubbed “Condoms for Kindergartners” is a bill that would have allowed access to contraceptives and more via vending machines. This bill failed, and the Maryland Freedom Caucus rejoiced, saying in part quote,

“This is a major victory in the fight to protect Maryland’s children and uphold parental rights.” Now, they aim to tackle another bill they say threatens the rights of parents and is a negative influence on children.”

Parent Preference

Maturity, sensitivity, and/or past trauma- three of many reasons parents wish to opt out of the Comprehensive Health Education Framework, according to Maryland Freedom Caucus Chair, Delegate Matt Morgan. “Look, I’m under the opinion that parents need options, and look, there’s a lot of different reasons why parents might be opting their children out of this…”

After squashing the “Condoms for Kindergarteners” bill Del. Morgan says democrats just won’t quit, and parents should talk about certain topics at home.

“These bills almost came in back-to-back. HB 161 does a bunch of different things, but the main thing it does, it makes gender ideology and sexual orientation its own stand-alone curriculum, teaching this to kids as young as kindergarten and removes the parents’ ability to opt out. So, parents can still opt out of the health options of the curriculum, but they can’t opt out of the gender ideology and sexual orientation portion of the program.”

Integrating Inclusion

Bill Co-sponsor Delegate Vanessa Atterbeary pushed this in February of 2023, saying school boards will have ultimate say creating age-appropriate curriculum. “To include health promotion, mental and emotional health, substance abuse prevention, Yes- family life and sexuality, gender identity and sexual orientation, safety and violence prevention, healthy eating, and disease prevention and control.”

Support in Salisbury 

The bill has also seen community support. PFLAG Salisbury, an organization dedicated to supporting, educating, and advocating for LGBTQIA+ people and their families, submitted legislative testimony in favor of HB161, saying in part- quote, “It is vital that health education taught in Maryland public schools be comprehensive, inclusive, age appropriate, and relevant. School-based health education helps young people acquire an accurate and purposeful understanding of their own health that strengthens the positive attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors necessary for them to adopt and maintain healthy activities throughout their lives.”

They go on to say, “The Maryland Health Education Framework includes instruction on sexual orientation, gender identity, and cultural responsiveness in order to meet the needs of ALL young people; however, due to local school boards controlling curriculum there are significant disparities resulting in the exclusion of LGBTQIA+ learners and thousands of young people each year not receiving a representative and medically accurate health and sexual education.”

Executive Order on Education

President Trump’s executive order directs the U.S. Department of Education to defund local school districts promoting “gender ideology.” The Maryland Department of Education weighed in saying in part quote,

“We do not oppose the bill based on the merits of the proposed subject matter but on the grounds that the legislative requirement would be duplicative of current regulatory requirements and run counter to the process entrusted to the State Board and MSDE.”

Pausing on Progressives

Del. Morgan says Maryland parents aren’t going where progressive train is heading… “People are upset with what’s going on in the schools. This is the reason home schooling is at an all-time high at this point; this is the reason why private schools have a long waitlists for students to get in- because we’re sick and tired of this social re-engineering in our schools. We really want to get schools back to what they should be doing- and that reading, writing, and arithmetic…”

Awaiting the Senate 

HB161 passed the house with a 95-39 vote and awaits hearings in the Maryland Senate. This will be the third year the bill has passed the House; however, it has never passed out of committee in the Senate.

House Bill 161 was referred to the Maryland Senate’s Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee, and we will keep you updates with those results. For more information visit their website.