‘MAGA’s Weird Obsession’ Continues as House Passes Bill Forcing Schools to ‘Out’ Trans Kids

One Democratic lawmaker said the legislation “puts trans youth in harm’s way and censors content that acknowledges trans people’s existence.”

A girl helps holds the Transgender Pride flag during a July 9 2022 rally in Madrid.
(Photo by Luis Soto/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Brett Wilkins
May 20, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed legislation that critics warn would force public schools receiving federal funding to “out” transgender students to their parents without or without their consent, a policy that advocates warn could endanger many trans youth.

HR 2016, the Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act—but dubbed the “Don’t Say Trans” bill by some critics—was introduced by Reps. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) and Burgess Owens (R-Utah) and passed by a vote of 217-198, with eight Democrats joining every Republican and one Independent present in voting for the legislation.

The bill—which faces an uncertain future in the Senate—requires federally funded elementary and middle schools to obtain parental consent before changing a student’s gender markers, pronouns, or preferred names on school forms. It also mandates parental consent for a student’s access to sex-based accommodations, such as locker rooms or bathrooms.



The legislation also prohibits federal elementary and secondary education funds from being used to advance concepts of so-called “gender ideology”—an inaccurate term that GLAAD says is “deployed by opponents to undermine and dehumanize transgender and nonbinary people”—in the classroom. The term features prominently in a day-one executive order signed by President Donald Trump in what critics say is an effort to effectively erase trans people from public existence.

“Too many schools are keeping parents in the dark about what’s happening in their own children’s classrooms, even going so far as to withhold critical information about their kids’ well-being and development,” Walberg said.

“Families deserve honesty, not secrecy—especially when it comes to issues like gender identity,” he continued. “Simply put, parents should never be the last to know—that’s not political, it’s common sense.”

“Meanwhile, political and ideological agendas are being pushed through curriculum without parents’ knowledge or consent, sidelining the very people responsible for raising these children,” Walberg added.

However, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.)—whose daughter is transgender—accused Republicans of “targeting trans kids with a bill that would require public schools to forcibly out students who want to use certain pronouns or accommodations, even if it would put them in danger.”

“I’m a hell no,” Jayapal said of the bill. “Trans kids deserve better.”



Other House Democrats echoed Japayal’s objections, with Rep. Robin Kelly of Illinois warning that the “Republicans’ extreme bill puts trans youth in harm’s way and censors content that acknowledges trans people’s existence.”

“I will always stand up for student safety, and I am voting NO,” Kelly added.

Rep. Christian Menefee of Texas said that “instead of making sure America’s schools have the resources and support they need to ensure every student is given the same shot at success, Republicans are bringing a ‘Don’t Say Trans’ bill to the floor today to forcibly out trans students, even if doing so would put students in immediate physical danger.”

“Parents across the country want their children to learn in safe, affirming environments, without worrying about their kids being outed for their gender identity,” he added. “I won’t vote to put those kids in danger.”

Rep. Laura Friedman of California lamented: “This week, congressional Republicans could have spent their time working with us to help Americans afford groceries and pay their rent. Instead, they spent their time advancing a bill meant to demean trans youth.”

“I voted no and urge them to focus on the real needs of Americans,” Friedman added.

The eight Democrats who voted for the bill are: Reps. Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar of Texas, Don Davis of North Carolina, Cleo Fields of Louisiana, Laura Gillen of New York, Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, and Eugene Vindman of Virginia.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) called HR 2616 part of “MAGA’s weird obsession with trans people.”

“When the going gets tough for Republicans in Congress—when they have no answers to soaring gas prices from Trump’s illegal war with Iran, rampant corruption, or spiking health premiums—they can’t help but fall back on their favorite strategy: fearmongering,” HRC’s Jennifer Pike Bailey wrote on Tuesday. “And unfortunately, the transgender community is still the scapegoat du jour.”

“Policies that denigrate trans youth don’t succeed in erasing these students, they just make their lives immeasurably harder,” she continued. “It’s the job of schools to keep youth safe. And as we’ve seen, LGBTQ+ students are in physical danger when harmful policies are implemented. Recent FBI data shows that in states that have passed these types of laws, anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes in schools have quadrupled.”

“Opponents of LGBTQ+ equality are creating a lot of noise, and the only way to stop them is to be louder,” Pike Bailey stressed. “We need phone calls, emails, letters to every member of Congress telling them to stop these attacks. And then we need to show up at the ballot box.”

Tyler Hack, executive director of the trans political advocacy group Christopher Street Project, said in a statement that “HR 2616 is yet another escalation in Republicans’ sick obsession with criminalizing queer people and trans youth.”

“This ‘Don’t Say Trans’ bill does not protect kids—it is government-mandated forced outing,” Hack added. “Mandating that teachers act as agents of the state and out their own students is not protection; it’s cruelty.”

According to the Trans Legislation Tracker, “an independent research organization tracking bills that impact trans and gender-diverse people across the United States,” there are currently 778 state-level and 126 national bills under consideration “that would negatively impact” targeted people.

One of the most recently approved bills, signed into law Friday by Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, forces trans and nonbinary students who need to use public school restrooms to go outside to porta-potties. LGBTQ Nation’s Greg Owen slammed the law as a “latter-day ‘separate but equal’ attack on trans rights.”

The Campaign for Southern Equality (CSE) said that “this bill will do nothing to make our schools safer.”

“Rather,” CSE added, “it will make using the bathroom a difficult and even dangerous experience for trans and nonbinary youth, who are extremely likely to be bullied and harassed when using the bathroom.”