1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

Vote no on H.R. 8705, the CHARLIE Act. This bill would ban federally funded civics and history programs from acknowledging that LGBTQ+ people exist — and my family is proof of exactly who gets erased. My daughter has two parents who are part of the LGBTQ+ community. She deserves to see her family reflected in her education, not scrubbed from it. The bill imports vague definitions of "gender ideology" and "discriminatory equity ideology" straight from Trump executive orders, giving programs no clear guidance except to avoid the topic entirely. That same logic could bar classrooms from discussing slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation. As Rep. Mark Takano said, "Censoring American history doesn't change what happened — it dooms future generations to forget and potentially repeat the mistakes of the past." He's right. Silence isn't neutrality. It's a choice to make certain kids invisible. My daughter should not have to pretend her family doesn't exist to sit in a federally funded classroom. Vote no.