East Central Reporter

State Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) said he was “not surprised” Illinois House Majority Leader Greg Harris (D-Chicago) criticized the Florida bill blocking public schools from discussing sexual orientation with young children. 

“The media lies about this legislation in Florida are reprehensible," Miller told East Central Reporter. "There is no discrimination taking place with the Florida legislation. It is simply a bill to protect kids from being exposed to inappropriate material. Adults talking to young kids explicit sexual material is perverted. I applaud Florida for taking a stand to protect kids.” 

Miller said in another context that communication would be considered a crime. 

“I am disappointed but not surprised by his stance," he added. "If a man on the street were to come up to a five-year-old boy and start talking about homosexual sex, the man would be arrested. So why is it OK for this same conversation to happen in a classroom? It is perverted and wrong. Period."

Harris shared his viewpoint on Twitter after the Florida House passed the Parental Rights in Education bill 69-47, while the Florida Senate passed it 22-17. It will be implemented on July 1, 2022.

"Dear Florida: I'm proud that in Illinois we protect our LGBTQ families, teach our history and stand with our LGBTQ youth," Harris wrote on Twitter. "I'm proud to be the LGBTQ House Majority Leader, from a district with an LGBTQ Senator, a city with a LGBTQ mayor and a ward with an LGBTQ Alderman."

Adults engaging with young children about sex, according to Kristin Jenson of Defend Young Minds, an anti-child-sex-abuse organization, is a "grooming behavior... parents should recognize."

"Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards,” a part of the bill reads.

In 2021, the inclusion of the illustrated gay sex scenes in Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe in libraries throughout Illinois triggered debates at the local school board level and has also been the source of national fervor. Concerned parents across the country have pointed to Kobabe’s work as gratuitously sexual and unnecessary for schoolchildren. Many communities in Illinois, such as those concerned parents in Downers Grove 99, are questioning its place and the place for other such books in public education.