Joe.My.God. LGBT News
For the fourth time nutjob Oklahoma state Rep. Sally Kern and her counterpart in the state Senate have induced bills that would allow the teaching of Creationism and other anti-science nonsense in public schools. Arstechnica reports:
Billed as a “Scientific Education and Academic Freedom Act” (because freedom!), it spells out a whole host of areas of science its author doesn’t like:
“The Legislature further finds that the teaching of some scientific concepts including but not limited to premises in the areas of biology, chemistry, meteorology, bioethics, and physics can cause controversy, and that some teachers may be unsure of the expectations concerning how they should present information on some subjects such as, but not limited to, biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning.”
The bill responds to that uncertainty by ensuring educators can just teach whatever they want as long as they think it’s science, and nobody can discipline them. Students, meanwhile, cannot be penalized if they “subscribe to a particular position on scientific theories.” And the author makes sure to point out that none of this has anything to do with religion, just in case a casual reader ended up confused by its similarity to earlier bills with overtly religious motivations.
Read Kern’s bill here. (Tipped by JMG reader Paula)
RELATED: Kern first gained national attention in 2008 when she declared that homosexuality is a great threat to the United States than terrorism. Kern later claimed to have received death threats for her position, a claim which was refuted by state investigators who reviewed her emails. Last year Kern failed in her attempt to pass a slew of anti-LGBT bills, including one which would have allowed businesses to refuse to serve LGBT citizens. Another Kern bill would have forced the state to fire any employee who issued a same-sex marriage license.