La. Senate OKs Anti-Gay Law that Could Impact LGBT Youth

A Louisiana state Senate committee recently passed a law that would allow charter schools to refuse to admit gay students, the Baton Rouge, La., newspaper the Advocate reported.

State Sen. A.G. Crowe (R) said "his bill is designed to ensure that executive branch agencies and local governments stop including bans on discrimination against characteristics not listed in state law as a condition for private companies to do business with their agencies," the article points out.

The legislation would also allow the schools to deny students on their ability to speak English.

The Senate Labor and Industrial Relations committee passed the bill by a 5-1 vote. The only politician to vote against the legislation was Sen. Ed Murray, a Democrat, who said the possibility of the bill becoming a law is "really scary."

"I can't believe that at the same time we as a Legislature are passing bills that expand school choice, that we would also allow charter schools to deny admission based solely on a child's ability to speak English well enough or play basketball well enough," Murray said.

Louisiana's current anti-discrimination laws protect people on the basis of race, religion, national ancestry, age, sex and disability. It does not include sexual orientation or gender identity.

A professor at Louisiana State University sided with Crowe and claims that anti-discrimination language "that carries the force of law is becoming more and more prevalent in government agency procedures," the article notes. Randy Trahan also said that be believes the Legislature should have the only authority to pass laws.

"The executive branch has gone rogue," Trahan said.

Leslie Ellison, of New Orleans, testified that she would not sign a charter school contract with the state Department of Education because it would require her to discriminate against the LGBT community. She said that the department "doesn't have the right to insert" its opinions into a state contract.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's press secretary wrote in an email, "We're against discrimination, but we don't believe in special protections or rights."

In 2004, Louisiana's voters approved a state constitutional amendment that banned gay marriage and civil unions. The measure did not ban domestic partnerships, however.

In 2010, Louisiana lawmakers voted against a measure that would allow same-sex couples to adopt. A state Senate judiciary committee rejected the measure by a 3-1 vote.

The bill would have allowed unmarried couples of any sexual orientation to adopt. It would also have allowed legal parental relationships between "second parents" and the children of their partners.