Santa Fe, NM — Today, Senate Bill 258 "Human Sexuality Education" advanced on a (6-4) party line vote in the Senate Education Committee despite unified opposition from the Republican members.

Republicans attempted to amend the proposal to prevent the law from requiring instruction in gender identity—including the notion that there are more than two biological sexes—for middle and high school students. Traditionally, content standards are never placed directly in the law; instead, the law identifies the areas (including language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and more) in which the Public Education Department will develop standards for use by schools. SB 258 marks the first attempt to have the legislature mandate exactly what school districts must teach. Furthermore, the specific subject matter in this proposal is highly objectionable to many New Mexican families and communities.

In response to the advancement of SB 258, the Republican Ranking Member, Senator Gabriel Ramos, has issued the following statement:

"This bill undermines the authority of local school districts and more importantly, the parents of thousands of students who would never want their children exposed to this type of material." The Senator continued, "My Republican colleagues and I on the Senate Education Committee cannot accept that this is the direction lawmakers should be focused on while our children are failing in the subjects that truly matter. It is shameful that we have to waste our time on nonsense such as this while so many children in New Mexico cannot proficiently read or understand mathematics."