Washington bill protecting new student ‘identities’ clears committee

A Washington bill expanding protected classes in public schools, including gender identity and immigration status, moves forward despite concerns. Photo courtesy Taylor Flowe/Unsplash

Sen. Paul Harris, of Vancouver, among those lawmakers who are opposed to Senate Bill 5123

TJ Martinell
The Center Square Washington

A Washington state bill adding “gender identity” and illegal immigrants as new protected classes in the public school system has cleared its first committee amid concerns from some opponents that the bill language is “confusing.”

Speaking prior to a vote on Senate Bill 5123 in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee, Sen. Paul Harris, R-Vancouver, told colleagues he was opposed because “I have heard a lot of confusion … on this particular bill, and I think anytime a bill causes this much confusion and this many emails into my inbox, either it’s poorly written or poorly understood. I’m sorry, but I believe there is confusion.”

Sponsored by Sen. T’wina Nobles, D-Fircrest, SB 5123 would add four new types of identities as protected classes within the state K-12 system: ethnicity, homelessness, immigration status and neurodivergence.

At the same time, it carves out new definitions for “gender identity” and “gender expression.” The bill was modified from its original version regarding immigration status to say to “immigration or citizenship status” defined as “such status has been established to such individual under the Immigration and Nationality Act.”

Prior to the committee vote, Nobles defended the bill against various criticism, including whether it discriminated in favor of certain types of students or whether it’s appropriate legislation at a time when student academic performances are flailing.

Nobles said the bill “does not give special rights to special groups. It simply extends protections to groups who are vulnerable to discrimination and provides clarification on definitions that are no longer accurate. Our understanding of identity has changed over time, and a definition created in 2010 are incomplete and misrepresent communities of young people.”

She added that “a safe and inclusive environment is essential to academic success. If students are facing harassment because of their identity, the state of their mental health is more likely to deteriorate.”

Sen. Jim McCune, R-Graham, told the committee that while he was opposed to the bill.

“I’m not going to speak a lot on it,” he said. “I’ll do that on the [Senate] floor.”

SB 5123 has been referred to the Senate Ways & Means Committee, but is not scheduled for a public hearing.

This report was first published by The Center Square Washington.