Empower Parents to Protect Their Kids Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3462 To require elementary schools and secondary schools that receive Federal funds to obtain parental consent before facilitating a child’s gender transition in any form, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 18, 2023 Mr. BANKS (for himself, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. BABIN, Mr. DUNCAN, and Mr. LAMALFA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To require elementary schools and secondary schools that receive Federal funds to obtain parental consent before facilitating a child’s gender transition in any form, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Empower Parents to 4 Protect Their Kids Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3462.IH H3462 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3462 IH (1) School districts across the country are vio- 1 lating parental and familial rights by encouraging or 2 instructing staff to deceive or withhold information 3 from parents if their child expresses confusion about 4 their gender and is seeking to ‘‘transition’’. Without 5 parental knowledge or consent, schools are facili- 6 tating ‘‘social gender transitions’’ by changing the 7 names and pronouns of children in school, or even 8 allowing children to change which sex-segregated fa- 9 cilities they use, such as rest rooms, locker rooms, 10 and dormitories or other housing for overnight field 11 trips. 12 (2) Powerful teachers unions and activist orga- 13 nizations are pressuring more schools to adopt poli- 14 cies to enable and encourage children, of any age, to 15 change their ‘‘gender identity’’ at school without pa- 16 rental notice or consent. 17 (3) Contrary to the unfounded assertions of ac- 18 tivists, ‘‘socially transitioning’’ a child is not an evi- 19 dence-based practice and it is not a neutral or 20 uncontroversial decision. This practice is an experi- 21 mental social and psychological intervention that has 22 immediate effects on a child’s psychology and a high 23 likelihood of changing the life path of a child. A ‘‘so- 24 cial gender transition’’ may make it more difficult 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3462.IH H3462 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3462 IH for a child to reverse course later on, thereby in- 1 creasing the likelihood that the child will continue on 2 to a ‘‘medical transition’’, resulting in life-changing, 3 irreversible consequences. 4 (4) Any policies that attempt to circumvent pa- 5 rental authority are a violation of parents’ constitu- 6 tionally protected rights to direct the care, custody, 7 and upbringing of their children as recognized by 8 the Supreme Court. Further, policies that withhold 9 information from parents or ask children about inti- 10 mate details of their family life violate Federal stat- 11 utes designed to uphold a parent’s rights and duties 12 in education. School districts implementing such 13 policies are misrepresenting or entirely ignoring 14 these statutes and constitutional protections. 15 (5) Schools should never be allowed to intrude 16 on family life by misleading or excluding parents 17 and confusing children. 18 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT OF PARENTAL CONSENT. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—No Federal funds shall be made 20 available to any elementary school or secondary school un- 21 less the elementary school or secondary school, with re- 22 spect to students enrolled at the school who have not yet 23 reached 18 years of age, complies with each of the fol- 24 lowing requirements: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3462.IH H3462 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3462 IH (1) School employees do not proceed with any 1 accommodation intended to affirm a student’s pur- 2 ported ‘‘gender identity’’, where the student’s pur- 3 ported ‘‘gender identity’’ is incongruous with the 4 student’s biological sex, or any action to facilitate a 5 ‘‘gender transition’’, including referral or rec- 6 ommendation to any third-party medical provider, 7 unless the employees have received express parental 8 consent to do so. 9 (2) School employees do not facilitate, encour- 10 age, or coerce students to withhold information from 11 their parents regarding the student’s ‘‘gender transi- 12 tion’’ or the student’s purported ‘‘gender identity’’, 13 where the student’s purported ‘‘gender identity’’ is 14 incongruous with the student’s biological sex. 15 (3) School employees do not withhold or hide 16 information from parents about a student’s desired 17 ‘‘gender transition’’ or a student’s purported ‘‘gen- 18 der identity’’, where the student’s purported ‘‘gender 19 identity’’ is incongruous with the student’s biological 20 sex. 21 (4) School employees do not encourage, pres- 22 sure, or coerce the parents of students, or students 23 themselves, to proceed with any treatment or inter- 24 vention to affirm the student’s purported ‘‘gender 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3462.IH H3462 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3462 IH identity’’, where that ‘‘gender identity’’ is incon- 1 gruous with the student’s biological sex. 2 (b) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 3 tion shall be construed— 4 (1) to prevent a school employee from con- 5 tacting appropriate legal authorities about an immi- 6 nent threat to a student’s physical safety in the 7 event that the school employee knows or has a rea- 8 sonable suspicion that the student is at risk of phys- 9 ical abuse, as defined in section 1169 of title 18, 10 United States Code; or 11 (2) to deprive any parent of the right to be in- 12 volved in a child’s actions or discussions about gen- 13 der transition, without the due process of law. 14 (c) ENSURING COMPLIANCE.—The head of each Fed- 15 eral agency shall require each application for Federal as- 16 sistance submitted by a State educational agency or local 17 educational agency to the head of such Federal agency— 18 (1) to describe the steps that each elementary 19 school and secondary school served by the State edu- 20 cational agency or local educational agency proposes 21 to take to ensure compliance with the requirements 22 under this section and how these steps preserve and 23 protect the authority of the family; and 24 (2) to ensure that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3462.IH H3462 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3462 IH (A) a copy of the written policy that each 1 elementary school and secondary school served 2 by the State educational agency or local edu- 3 cational agency has to ensure compliance with 4 the requirements under this section is provided 5 to the head of such Federal agency and to the 6 families of enrolled students; and 7 (B) each such policy is clearly and publicly 8 posted on the website of the school. 9 (d) CIVIL ACTION FOR CERTAIN VIOLATIONS.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—A qualified party may, in a 11 civil action, obtain appropriate relief with regard to 12 a designated violation. 13 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES NOT RE- 14 QUIRED.—An action under this section may be com- 15 menced, and relief may be granted, without regard 16 to whether the party commencing the action has 17 sought or exhausted any available administrative 18 remedy. 19 (3) DEFENDANTS IN ACTIONS UNDER THIS 20 SECTION MAY INCLUDE GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES 21 AS WELL AS OTHERS.—An action under this section 22 may be brought against any elementary school or 23 secondary school receiving Federal financial assist- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3462.IH H3462 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3462 IH ance or any governmental entity assisting an elemen- 1 tary school or secondary school. 2 (4) NATURE OF RELIEF.—In an action under 3 this section, the court shall grant— 4 (A) all appropriate relief, including injunc- 5 tive relief and declaratory relief; 6 (B) to a prevailing plaintiff, reasonable at- 7 torneys’ fees and litigation costs; and 8 (C) payment for treatments or therapy 9 needed to repair harm to the child perpetuated 10 by pursuit of ‘‘gender transition’’ determined 11 necessary by the parent and the child’s medical 12 providers. 13 (5) ATTORNEYS FEES FOR DEFENDANT.—If a 14 defendant in a civil action under this subsection pre- 15 vails and the court finds that the plaintiff’s suit was 16 frivolous, the court shall award a reasonable attor- 17 ney’s fee in favor of the defendant against the plain- 18 tiff. 19 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 20 (1) BIOLOGICAL SEX.—The term ‘‘biological 21 sex’’ means the biological indication of male and fe- 22 male as determined by reproductive potential or ca- 23 pacity, such as sex chromosomes, naturally occurring 24 sex hormones, gonads, and nonambiguous internal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3462.IH H3462 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3462 IH and external genitalia present at birth, without re- 1 gard to a person’s psychological, chosen, or subjec- 2 tive experience of gender. 3 (2) DESIGNATED VIOLATION.—The term ‘‘des- 4 ignated violation’’ means an actual or threatened 5 violation of this section. 6 (3) ESEA.—The terms ‘‘elementary school’’ 7 and ‘‘secondary school’’ have the meanings given the 8 terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 9 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 10 (4) GENDER IDENTITY.—The term ‘‘gender 11 identity’’ means a person’s self-perception of their 12 gender or claimed gender, regardless of the person’s 13 biological sex. 14 (5) GENDER TRANSITION.— 15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘gender tran- 16 sition’’ includes both medical transition and so- 17 cial transition. 18 (B) MEDICAL TRANSITION.—The term 19 ‘‘medical transition’’ means any medical, hor- 20 monal, or surgical intervention undertaken to 21 alter the body of a person in order to assert an 22 identity incongruent with biological sex or un- 23 dertaken to create or facilitate the development 24 of physiological or anatomical characteristics 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3462.IH H3462 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3462 IH that resemble a sex different from the person’s 1 biological sex. 2 (C) SOCIAL TRANSITION.—The term ‘‘so- 3 cial transition’’ means any action taken to af- 4 firm a person’s asserted ‘‘gender identity’’ that 5 is in contradiction to the person’s biological sex, 6 including but not limited to decisions pertaining 7 to the use of sex-specific facilities and accom- 8 modations, participation in sex-segregated 9 sports or activities, pronoun and name usage, 10 boarding, sleeping and travel arrangements for 11 field trips (including overnight trips), and dress 12 code guidelines. 13 (6) GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘gov- 14 ernmental entity’’ means a school district, a local 15 educational agency, a school board, or any agency or 16 other governmental unit or subdivision of a State re- 17 sponsible for education, or of such a local govern- 18 ment. 19 (7) QUALIFIED PARTY.—The term ‘‘qualified 20 party’’ means— 21 (A) the Attorney General of the United 22 States; or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3462.IH H3462 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 3462 IH (B) any parent or legal guardian adversely 1 affected by the designated violation. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3462.IH H3462 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB