Charlotte’s NPR affiliate reports:

A bill advancing in North Carolina’s Senate would prohibit instruction about sexuality and gender identity in K-4 public school classes, defying the recommendations of parents, educators and LGBTQ youths who testified against it.

Sponsors of the bill, approved Wednesday by the Senate education committee, say they want to grant parents greater authority over their children’s education and health care.

Sponsor Sen. Amy Galey said that without it, teachers can “shove parents out of the school door” and teach curriculum that conflicts with parents’ beliefs. “It baffles me to think that this bill would be divisive, quite frankly,” Galey told the committee Wednesday.

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