Don't Say Gay: Tennessee Senate Bill 49

A Tennessee state senator has introduced a bill into the Tennessee legislature, that would bar, in Tennessee schools, teaching or teaching material that mentions homosexuality. The media is calling it the Don't Say Gay Bill.  Here is the text of the bill:    

"1. The general assembly recognizes the sensitivity of particular subjects that are best explained and discussed in the home.  Human sexuality is a complex subject with societal, scientific, psychological, and historical implications; those implications are best understood by children with sufficient maturity to grasp their complexity.

2. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, no public elementary or middle school shall provide any instruction or material that discusses sexual orientation other than heterosexuality."

Time Magazine reports that when this same senator was a member of the Tennessee House  of Representatives, he "pushed this bill for six years".

(The bill number is Tennessee Senate Bill 49 and House Bill 229.  This is the Tennessee Legislature's bill search page.)