U.S. House Republicans introduced two bills on April 3 that would require schools nationwide to out transgender students to their parents and ban schools from acknowledging the existence of trans people. An official from the Human Rights Campaign called the bills “cruel.”

House Bill 2616, known as the Parental Rights Over the Education and Care of Their Kids Act (or the PROTECT Kids Act), would require federally funded public elementary and middle schools to obtain parental consent before changing a student’s gender markers, pronouns, or preferred name on any school form or permitting a change in sex-based accommodations, including using sex-segregated locker rooms or restrooms that don’t match the sex the student was assigned at birth.

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Specifically, the bill would apply to all schools that receive federal funds from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, a federal law that helps fund education for low-income students. Nearly all school districts in the U.S. (including over 90% of public schools) receive ESEA funding.

The bill was introduced by U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), who once traveled to Uganda to meet with leaders there and urge them to “stand firm” in support of their draconian anti-LGBTQ law, which includes the death penalty for gay people.

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Walberg’s bill was cosponsored by U.S. Reps. Burgess Owens (R-UT), who also cosponsored a failed national “Don’t Say Gay” bill forbidding any mention of LGBTQ+ topics in various federally-funded institutions; Mary Miller (R-IL), who has accused LGBTQ+ people of using Pride Month to groom children for sexual abuse; Robert Onder (R-MO), who supports businesses discriminating against same-sex couples, and Kevin Kiley (R-CA), who opposes trans female athletes playing on girls’ and women’s teams.

Separately, Owens introduced House Bill 2617, which prohibits the use of ESEA funds “to teach or advance concepts related to gender ideology.” Gender ideology is a transphobic term that means anything acknowledging the existence of trans or nonbinary people.

The bill defines gender ideology in line with “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” an executive order that the president issued on the first day of his second term. The order directs all federal agencies to recognize individuals based on the sex they were assigned at birth, essentially denying the existence of trans, nonbinary, and intersex individuals.

Owens’ H.B. 2617 also has a companion bill, Senate Bill 2251, in the congressional upper chamber.

In a statement, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) wrote, “Transgender students exist and deserve to live their lives with dignity. [This legislation] would make their lives immeasurably harder.”

“Schools have a legal and moral duty to keep all students safe, and the data is clear: Bills like this fail that test,” the HRC added. “They target kids for harassment and exclusion, put them at risk at home and in school, and tell teachers what they can and cannot teach. Beyond being completely out of touch with the priorities of the American public, it’s a deeply cynical – and harmful – piece of legislation.”

David Stacy, the Human Rights Campaign’s vice president of government affairs, added, “Trans kids are not a political agenda — they are students who deserve safety and affirmation at school like anyone else… Despite the many pressing issues facing our nation, House Republicans continue their bizarre obsession with trans people. [This legislation] does not protect children. It targets them. This bill is cruel, and we’re prepared to fight it.”

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