IV 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 265 
Supporting the goals and ideals of the Rise Up for LGBTQI+ Youth in 
Schools Initiative, a call to action to communities across the country 
to demand equal educational opportunity, basic civil rights protections, 
and freedom from erasure for all students, particularly LGBTQI+ young 
people, in elementary and secondary schools. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 29, 2023 
Mr. TAKANO (for himself and Ms. LEE of California) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce 
RESOLUTION 
Supporting the goals and ideals of the Rise Up for 
LGBTQI+ Youth in Schools Initiative, a call to action 
to communities across the country to demand equal edu-
cational opportunity, basic civil rights protections, and 
freedom from erasure for all students, particularly 
LGBTQI+ young people, in elementary and secondary 
schools. 
Whereas young people, teachers, school staff, families, and 
communities must be free of transphobia, homophobia, 
racism, sexism, and ableism in elementary and secondary 
schools; 
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•HRES 265 IH 
Whereas elementary and secondary schools must be safe and 
inclusive learning environments that affirm LGBTQI+ 
young people, especially those who are transgender, non-
binary, intersex, Black, Indigenous, people of color, peo-
ple with disabilities, and from all communities that expe-
rience marginalization; 
Whereas for over two decades, Congress has supported a res-
olution for a ‘‘National Day of Silence’’, and for a dec-
ade, Congress has supported a resolution for ‘‘No Name- 
Calling Week’’; 
Whereas advocates have designated 2023–2024 as a time for 
communities to carry out the Rise Up for LGBTQI+ 
Youth in Schools Initiative in support of LGBTQI+ 
young people in schools, by building on the goals of the 
‘‘National Day of Silence’’ and the ‘‘No Name-Calling 
Week’’ to create a sustained call to action to demand 
equal educational opportunity, basic civil rights protec-
tions, and freedom from erasure for all students; 
Whereas LGBTQI+ young people frequently experience bias- 
based bullying and harassment, discrimination, and puni-
tive discipline that increases the likelihood they will enter 
the school-to-prison pipeline; 
Whereas over 200 anti-LGBTQI+ education bills are intro-
duced each year in State legislatures across the country, 
the majority of which specifically target transgender and 
nonbinary young people, including— 
(1) in Idaho, on March 30, 2020, where Governor 
Brad Little signed the first bill into law barring 
transgender students from playing on the school sports 
teams that correspond with their gender identity 17 days 
after the COVID–19 pandemic was declared a national 
emergency; 
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(2) between 2021 and 2022, when 17 additional 
States enacted laws prohibiting transgender students 
from playing alongside their peers on school sports 
teams; and 
(3) between 2021 and 2022, when 3 States enacted 
laws to prevent transgender students from using the 
school bathroom or locker room that corresponds with 
their gender identity; 
Whereas the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s 
2021 National School Climate Survey found that 
LGBTQI+ students who experienced LGBTQI+ dis-
crimination at school in the past year, including being 
prevented from using the restroom that aligns with the 
student’s gender identity and being barred from playing 
on the school sports team that aligns with the student’s 
gender identity, were nearly 3 times as likely to have 
missed school in the past month, had lower grade point 
averages, reported lower feelings of school belonging, and 
had higher levels of depression compared to LGBTQI+ 
students who had not experienced LGBTQI+ discrimina-
tion; 
Whereas LGBTQI+ young people are more likely than their 
non-LGBTQI+ peers to experience bullying at school and 
mental health concerns, including stress, anxiety, and de-
pression; 
Whereas nearly half of LGBTQI+ young people seriously 
considered suicide in the last year, a trend that increases 
among Indigenous, Black, and multiracial LGBTQI+ 
young people; 
Whereas Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s 
2021 National School Climate Survey found that, among 
LGBTQI+ students who said that they were considering 
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dropping out of school, 31.4 percent indicated that they 
were doing so because of the hostile climate created by 
gendered school policies and practices; 
Whereas States are passing or attempting to pass legislation 
that erases or censors LGBTQI+ people, history, and 
contributions from classroom literature and curricula, in-
cluding— 
(1) in March 2022, in Florida, where Governor Ron 
DeSantis signed House bill 1557 into law censoring in-
struction related to LGBTQI+ people, commonly re-
ferred to as the ‘‘Don’t Say Gay or Trans’’ law; 
(2) in May 2021, in Arizona, where Governor Doug 
Ducey signed House bill 2035, which would require pa-
rental consent for a child to learn about topics such as 
the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that 
the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same- 
sex couples; and 
(3) in 2021, when Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and 
Tennessee enacted laws that treat instruction related to 
LGBTQI+ people in history, science, the arts, or any 
academic class as a sensitive topic that requires parental 
notification and allows parents to opt their child out of 
such instruction; 
Whereas these laws harm students and force parents to con-
sider leaving their homes, as demonstrated in a Williams 
Institute report, which found that 56 percent of 
LGBTQI+ parents of students in Florida considered 
moving out of Florida and 16.5 percent have taken steps 
to move out of Florida because of House bill 1557; 
Whereas States have gone farther by specifically targeting 
transgender students and their parents with laws that at-
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tack transgender students’ mental health counseling and 
gender-affirming care, including— 
(1) in 2022, in Texas, where Governor Greg Abbott 
issued a directive to the Department of Family and Pro-
tective Services to investigate the parents of young people 
seeking gender-affirming care for child abuse, which pur-
ported to require school professionals to report parents 
who are supportive of their transgender child for inves-
tigation; and 
(2) by early March 2023, when 34 States introduced 
over 135 bills that prohibit or create barriers to the social 
affirmation of transgender and nonbinary students, such 
as using a student’s chosen name and pronouns, regard-
less of the risk to students’ safety, health, and well-being; 
Whereas 85 percent of transgender and nonbinary young peo-
ple say that recent debates prompted by State legislation 
restricting the rights of transgender people have nega-
tively impacted their mental health; 
Whereas every young person must have equal educational op-
portunity and freedom from the fear that their basic civil 
and educational rights will be taken away from them; 
Whereas 94 percent of teachers say that schools should en-
sure that no students feel unsafe, invisible, or unheard; 
Whereas young people who develop in positive school cli-
mates, free of bullying, harassment, and discrimination, 
report greater physical and psychological safety, greater 
mental well-being, and improved educational and life out-
comes; 
Whereas positive school transformation must recognize that 
safety is too low a bar and that all communities deserve 
to be acknowledged and affirmed in our schools; 
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•HRES 265 IH 
Whereas students and parents, educators, and community 
members in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Montana, 
Tennessee, Texas, and in all States and territories of the 
United States are advocating for safe and inclusive learn-
ing environments that affirm LGBTQI+ young people, 
including those who are transgender, nonbinary, Black, 
Indigenous, people of color, and people with disabilities; 
and 
Whereas we must all demand the best possible future for all 
young people in schools, particularly those who identify 
as LGBTQI+, without exception: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) supports the goals and ideals of the Rise Up 
for LGBTQI+ Youth in Schools Initiative in de-
manding the best possible future for all young peo-
ple in schools, particularly those who identify as 
LGBTQI+; and 
(2) encourages each State, territory, and local-
ity to support the Rise Up for LGBTQI+ Youth in 
Schools Initiative and adopt laws and policies that 
prohibit bias-based victimization, exclusion, and era-
sure. 
Æ 
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