A controversial bill that critics say would have given privately run, publicly funded charter schools the right to discriminate against gay students has been deferred in the Legislature.
A controversial bill that critics say would have given privately run, publicly funded charter schools the right to discriminate against gay students is all but dead in the Legislature. The Senate voted 24-9 this week to shelve Senate Bill 217 by Sen. A.G. Crowe, a St. Tammany Parish Republican. Technically the "amended bill was read by title and returned to the Involuntary Calendar by a vote of 24 yeas and 9 nays," which means it could still return to the Senate floor for debate, although political observers say it's unlikely to return to the agenda.
Crowe's legislation, backed by the Louisiana Family Forum and the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops, attempted to prohibit state agencies from requiring third-party entities with which they enter into contracts from having anti-discrimination policies that go beyond state contract law. The state of Louisiana's contract law only enumerates race, religion, national ancestry, age, sex and disability as characteristics protected against discrimination. However, the state Department of Education's charter application form also includes sexual orientation and several other characteristics as worthy of anti-discrimination protections.
Read more here. http://www.theind.com/re/10314-a-crowe-on-my-gay-dar