Tennessee's Don't Say Gay and Monkey Bills April 18, 2012, 1:57 pm The small government Republicans who dominate the Tennessee Legislature are taking a very active role in public education. Earlier this month the governor allowed passage of a law protecting teachers who challenge the "scientific weaknesses" of topics such as "biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming and human cloning." The sponsors say it fosters "critical thinking;" its opponents point out the obvious: It's an anti-science measure intended to promote creationism and intelligent design, and to cast doubt on climate change. Now the Legislature is considering a measure that would bar any critical thinking in another area. It would interdict elementary and middle school teachers from discussing homosexuality. On Tuesday, House Bill 229 cleared a House education committee. Dubbed by critics the Don't Say Gay bill, it "prohibits the teaching or furnishing of materials on human sexuality other than heterosexuality in public school grades K-8." Its sponsor, Rep. Joey Hensley, explained that he has "two children - in the third- and fourth-grade - and [I] don't want them to be exposed to things I don't agree with." Setting aside the issue of whether school curriculums should reflect individual lawmakers" personal prejudices, critics argue that the bill is redundant, since under Tennessee law it's already illegal to teach sex education before high school.