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A forthcoming bill aimed to target “groomers” might restrict sex education. Here’s how.
DOG WHISTLES: At the beginning of the legislative session, LGBTQ+ advocates raised concerns about a bill sponsored by Rep. Travis Grantham, a Gilbert Republican who has long voted alongside far-right house members, including in anti-LGBTQ+ bills.
His bill, HB2310, was originally labeled an "anti-grooming" bill aiming to codify the term "grooming" as the distribution of sexual materials to a minor as a felony—something that already existed—but with harsher penalties for teachers or school staff.
The bill was inspired by a young woman's story of how a school coach lured her into an assault. She told lawmakers she still has not received justice against her attacker.
The term "grooming," though, holds a very specific meaning for lawmakers who Grantham promotes: almost always it's directed at LGBTQ+ people.
Educators took notice, especially since there were a handful of other bills this legislative session aimed to further limit public education on gender and sex. Still, with a number of amendments made to the law such as removing the word "grooming" from the bill and putting in protections for medical workers—done with the guidance of the governor's office—the bill was eventually passed and signed by Gov. Katie Hobbs last month.
But community advocates told us that the bill is still vague enough to be weaponized, and when they tried to sound the alarm, no one at the governor's office took their concerns seriously. Now, they say the bill gives a green light for far-right agitators to use the bill against teachers and librarians.
LOOKOUT'S TAKE: This has been a controversial bill from the start: Nobody in the community wanted to stand against an "anti-grooming" bill (the optics could look as if they might be "pro-grooming").
That shifted, though, in April when House Speaker Ben Toma called a drag storytelling event in the Capitol basement "perverse." Soon after, Sen. Anthony Kern (R-Glendale) went on a white nationalist talk show where the host alluded Toma to be a "groomer," himself. And then came the flood of social media comments saying that police should be called because children were being "sexualized" by an educational book about LGBTQ+ kids.
After those accusations were thrown around, advocates in the community started to worry about all the possible scenarios of HB2310, which makes it a felony to distribute materials that could "entice" a child: if a parent saw something they disagreed with, could they call the police on that teacher; if a police officer held those same beliefs, could they arrest the instructor; if the prosecutor held anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs, could they push through a criminal charge?
The answer is: maybe.
But even if the answer was "highly unlikely," community leaders still worry because the bill offers no guardrails to stop the legal implications from happening once they start.
*Hint: You'll have to read the full story on top
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