Text of AR SR 7 (2021)

*MLD140* 02/12/2021 2:11:12 PM MLD140 State of Arkansas 1 93rd General Assembly 2 Regular Session, 2021 SR 7 3 4 By: Senator A. Clark 5 6 SENATE RESOLUTION 7 TO URGE THE STATE OF ARKANSAS, THE POLITICAL 8 SUBDIVISIONS OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS, PUBLICLY 9 FUNDED AGENCIES, ORGANIZATIONS, AND THEIR EMPLOYEES 10 TO PROTECT THE WELFARE OF CHILDREN BY KEEPING THIS 11 PROMISE TO ARKANSAS’S CHILDREN. 12 13 14 Subtitle 15 TO PROTECT THE WELFARE OF CHILDREN BY 16 KEEPING THIS PROMISE TO ARKANSAS’S 17 CHILDREN. 18 19 WHEREAS, children have become increasingly targeted at younger ages for 20 adults’ sexual messages, images, and themes; and 21 22 WHEREAS, cultural forces, including social media and entertainment, and 23 government-sponsored initiatives at the federal, state, and local levels 24 expose children to explicit, sexual content; and 25 26 WHEREAS, international and domestic activities infuse public school 27 curricula with graphic information about sex and abortion, and with political 28 ideologies or policies concerning sexual orientation and gender identity; and 29 30 WHEREAS, federal legislation could override efforts of concerned 31 parents and community members at the local level; and 32 33 WHEREAS, federal legislation may penalize Americans, including parents, 34 who disagree with these ideologies and policies; and 35 36 SR7 2 02/12/2021 2:11:12 PM MLD140 WHEREAS, children are constantly learning and are particularly 1 influenced by the trusted adults in their lives; and 2 3 WHEREAS, children’s minds are treasures to nurture and help grow; and 4 5 WHEREAS, what children learn can determine their success or failure, 6 their ability to properly assess risk, and their vulnerability to 7 exploitation; and 8 9 WHEREAS, children’s bodies should be honored, protected, and given the 10 chance to develop naturally; and 11 12 WHEREAS, children's privacy and physical safety should not be 13 sacrificed for the sake of political ideology or policy; and 14 15 WHEREAS, adults responsible for children are charged with protecting 16 and caring for their bodies; and 17 18 WHEREAS, the safest place for a child is with his or her loving and 19 involved parents; and 20 21 WHEREAS, political or ideological efforts to drive wedges between 22 children and parents are not healthy; and 23 24 WHEREAS, every child deserves protection from use in or exposure to 25 pornography and graphic sexual content or activities, including in media and 26 on the internet; and 27 28 WHEREAS, every child deserves an education suited for his or her 29 specific needs and development as guided by his or her parents, including one 30 free of graphic sexual curricula or content, the promotion of abortion, and 31 politicized ideas about sexual orientation and gender identity; and 32 33 WHEREAS, to protect this right, all public school sexual education 34 programs should be opt-in, and voluntarily chosen by parents; and 35 36 SR7 3 02/12/2021 2:11:12 PM MLD140 WHEREAS, a general opt-out should be provided for other sensitive 1 topics families do not believe appropriate for their children; and 2 3 WHEREAS, parents should have the right to review all curricula, reading 4 material, teacher’s guides, and computer programs or applications; and 5 6 WHEREAS, every child deserves the right to free speech, to either speak 7 or not speak, and to affirm or not affirm messages or ideas that violate his 8 or her beliefs or conscience; and 9 10 WHEREAS, every child deserves safety and privacy in sex-specific 11 spaces, including locker rooms, showers, and restrooms at schools and other 12 publicly funded facilities; and 13 14 WHEREAS, every child deserves the opportunity to participate in fair 15 and safe athletic competitions, and female athletes should not be forced to 16 compete against biological males in sports competitions intended for 17 biological females; and 18 19 WHEREAS, every child deserves the opportunity to be affirmed in his or 20 her genetically determined sex, and to receive support throughout puberty and 21 other natural adolescent changes that shape physical maturity and 22 reproductive capacity; and 23 24 WHEREAS, gender reassignment medical treatments, including puberty 25 blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sterilizing surgeries, are neither natural 26 nor healthy, and should not be permitted for minors; and 27 28 WHEREAS, each child deserves to have his or her parents informed of and 29 involved in important life decisions; and 30 31 WHEREAS, authority figures, including teachers, counselors, or medical 32 professionals, should not withhold information about a child’s sexual 33 activity, development, or identity from parents, nor take any action 34 undermining the parents’ role in guiding the child in these areas, nor should 35 authority figures encourage or coerce a child to withhold information about 36 SR7 4 02/12/2021 2:11:12 PM MLD140 important life decisions from the parent; and 1 2 WHEREAS, the State of Arkansas should to the fullest extent possible 3 under the law resist every attempt or mandate by the federal government to 4 force anyone in Arkansas to violate the principles set forth in this 5 resolution, 6 7 NOW THEREFORE, 8 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE 9 STATE OF ARKANSAS: 10 11 THAT the Senate urge the State of Arkansas, all state agencies, the 12 political subdivisions of the State of Arkansas, publicly funded agencies, 13 public schools and open enrollment charter schools, organizations, and their 14 employees, to protect the welfare of every child in Arkansas as guided by 15 this resolution. 16 17 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Senate adopt this resolution as a 18 promise to Arkansas’s children to protect the welfare of every child and 19 directs that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the administrative 20 head of each state agency, including the secretary of each cabinet-level 21 department, to be shared with all employees under his or her leadership. 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36