A bill currently in the Tennessee legislature seeks to prohibit the state from approving textbooks and other instructional materials containing LGBTQ+ content.

“The bill, H.B. 0800, was introduced by Representative Bruce Griffey (R – District 75) [pictured] and will be considered by the Education Instruction Subcommittee on March 30,” KSDK reported Wednesday.

The bill says public schools need to focus on teaching subjects such as reading, science, and mathematics. It also adds LGBTQ+ content is inappropriate for the classroom and may offend a significant portion of school communities that hold Christian values.

In addition, the bill suggests LGBTQ+ issues be treated with the same rules as religious teaching in public schools.

The KSDK report continued:

“LEAs (local education agencies) and public charter schools shall not locally adopt or use in the public schools of this state, textbooks and instructional materials or supplemental instructional materials that promote, normalize, support, or address lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, or transgender issues or lifestyle,” the bill says.

“If passed, it would go into effect July 1 and apply to the 2021 – 2022 school year,” the article said.

In response, the Tennessee Businesses Against Discrimination issued a letter to state lawmakers voicing its opposition to bills that appear to discriminate against LGBTQ Tennesseans, according to NBC 15.

Meanwhile, Tennessee legislators recently introduced a bill preserving students’ right to use single-sex bathrooms and locker rooms.

“Introduced by state Rep. Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) and state Sen. Mike Bell (R-Riceville),  HB1233/SB1367 would allow students to obtain a ‘reasonable accommodation’ from their school to avoid sharing restrooms with transgender students,” Breitbart News reported March 10.

According to Zachary, the bill stemmed from school administrations’ frustration over dealing with bathroom access based on gender identities.

“There is a high school that has reached out to me, they are having to (deal with) a problem with boys using the girls’ restroom,” Zachary explained.

“And they feel like they are handcuffed, and there’s not much they can do about it. This bill takes care of that. It stops all that and just provides absolute clarity,” he stated.