It’s got to be hard being a kid these days.
Things used to be confusing enough.
We all went through phases where we pushed boundaries as we learned how to express our identities.
Our parents knew about it. They watched us experiment with how to become the adults we would evolve into and guided us through those perplexing times.
But that might not be the case for long in Colorado.
If State Representative Stephanie Vigil has her way, Colorado parents will soon be cut out of the loop regarding what their children are up to in school.
This is nonbinary Colorado State Rep Stephanie Vigil. She doesn’t believe in the nuclear family and think parents shouldn’t have full say over their kids.
She introduced HB24-1039 which would allow kids to change their names at school without parental knowledge and would punish… pic.twitter.com/EjMYaBbPjV
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 5, 2024
If passed, HB24-1039 “Deems a school’s refusal to use a student’s preferred name a form of discrimination.”
Here’s what the bill lays out via the Colorado General Assembly:
Section 1 of the bill:
- Requires public schools and institute charter schools (school) to use a student’s preferred name, if a preferred name is requested by the student; and
- Deems a school’s refusal to use a student’s preferred name a form of discrimination.
Section 2 of the bill:
- Creates the non-legal name changes in schools task force (task force) in the department of education (department) consisting of 9 members appointed by the department to examine existing school policies and provide recommendations to schools on how to best implement student non-legal name change policies;
- Requires the department to appoint members to the task force by June 30, 2024;
- Requires the task force to submit a report to the department detailing the recommended policy guidelines by January 1, 2025;
- Requires the department to publish the report on its website and submit the report to the superintendent of each school district and chief administrator of each institute charter school by February 1, 2025;
- Requires a school to implement the task force’s policy recommendations by July 1, 2025; and
- Repeals the task force, effective July 1, 2026.
Rep. Vigil isn’t attempting to hide the fact that she doesn’t think parents are best suited to mentor their children.
She filmed herself discussing the “social construct” of the nuclear family on social media.
Vigil’s views on nuclear family and education. pic.twitter.com/6v8ZTQYNqr
— Sarah Fields (@SarahisCensored) February 5, 2024
Those are some bold statements.
Some of this representative’s flawed logic was quickly pointed out on social media.
⚡️ Her logic is flawed. She committed the Fallacy of Equivocation. She said schools provide service to the children, not the parents. That's like saying a mechanic provides service to the car, not the owner. That's only true if you equivocate on the meaning of "service." pic.twitter.com/LASp709FuZ
— Zubi Bubalus (Reality Matters) (@Zubi_Freeman) February 5, 2024
Easiest debunk:
– a child can only have one mom and dad naturally (sperm from one man and an egg from one woman)
– if you buy a dog care service who us the customer? Obviously not the dog. Children likewise not the customer— Hydrothas (@hydrothas) February 6, 2024
While some Coloradans have praised the introduction of this controversial legislation as stunning and brave, others were quick to vent their disgust.
These predators need to be locked up.
— Charles (@ProveMe59327731) February 5, 2024
It’s not about secret name changes, it’s about secretly affirming a child’s internalized hate for their own body, encouraging body mutilation, exposure to predatory adults, and keeping severe mental health issues from the guardians responsible for the welfare of the child.
— Nightingale 2.0 (@ReginaeCor) February 5, 2024
Looks like they "California'd Colorado"🥱
— dented_halo 🇺🇸 (@Desert_Dawn04) February 5, 2024
Some netizens couldn’t resist pointing out the obvious absurdities regarding HB24-1039.
Does she hand out cigarettes and whiskey to these kids as well? And not tell their parents of course…
— NotDemocratOrRepublican (@jsob5187) February 5, 2024
— Debbie (@Latics) February 6, 2024
If this passes – $100 to every child who changes their name to “I love Donald Trump”
— Lucky Phelps (@LuckyPhelps) February 5, 2024
It’s just getting weirder out there by the day for kids.
Now, perhaps more than ever, they need guidance navigating this confusing world.
And parents are slowly being removed from the equation.
Bizpacreview has more on the story:
The bill, as investigative journalist Sarah Fields pointed out, “allows children to pick their ‘preferred name’ in school without parental knowledge or consent. Refusal by a school to call the child by the made-up name at parent’s request is considered discrimination.”
“Vigil has made herself clear regarding how she feels about the nuclear family,” continued Fields referencing and attached video. “But even more disturbing is her admission that she does not believe in the age of consent. Listen to her comments made as the Youth Advisory Council chair, when HB24-1039 was first introduced.”
The lawmaker could be heard pointing out different ages for employment, obtaining a driver’s license, voting and drinking alcohol to support her argument there was no “magical birthday that immediately switches you from child to adult.”
That same trio was also responsible for introducing a “Gender-Affirming Health-Care Provider Study” that, if passed, would require the Department of Public Health and Environment to determine what resources were available to support transgenderism, what threats there were to providers of chemical castration, genital mutilation surgeries and the like in addition to availability of insurance coverage and the “impact of nonprescribed treatments.”
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