The Freedom From Religion Foundation is sounding the alarm on a federal bill that would inject ideological censorship into federally supported history and civics education programs.

HR 8705, the so-called Civics and History Advancement to Restore Learning, Integrity, and Education Act (or CHARLIE Act), would prohibit federal education funds from supporting instruction or programming deemed to promote “gender ideology” or “discriminatory equity ideology.” The acronym, of course, is a nod to slain Turning Point USA leader Charlie Kirk. The bill has passed out of the House Education and Workforce Committee by a 19–15 vote.

The bill’s author, Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, claims the CHARLIE Act would put an end to “propaganda and subtle indoctrination.” In reality, it’s a censorship bill that would chill honest teaching about race, gender, civil rights and the full complexity of American history.

“Students deserve an honest education rooted in historical facts and constitutional principles, not government-approved propaganda crafted to satisfy Christian nationalist political interests,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “This bill does not protect educational integrity. It threatens it.”

HR 8705 incorporates language from President Trump’s executive orders. One of those orders rejects that gender identity can differ from sex assigned at birth and frames recognition of transgender people as “gender ideology extremism.”

The bill also adopts language targeting what the Trump administration calls “discriminatory equity ideology.” That vague language is designed to discourage or prohibit federally supported programs from discussing slavery, segregation, Jim Crow laws and other longstanding inequities woven throughout American history.

Public schools have a constitutional obligation to serve all students, including religious minorities, LGBTQ+ students and the growing number of students from nonreligious families. They must not privilege one religious or political viewpoint over others. Yet the CHARLIE Act uses vague and ideologically loaded language to discourage educators from discussing the lived experiences of marginalized Americans or the continuing effects of discrimination.

The bill also reflects the rhetoric of Christian nationalist organizations that have spent years attacking secular public education, inclusive curricula and LGBTQ+ students under the banner of “parental rights” or “anti-indoctrination.” But teaching students that America includes people of many races, religions, identities and beliefs is not indoctrination; censoring that reality is.

“A genuine civics education teaches students how our constitutional system actually works,” adds Gaylor. “This includes understanding that the Constitution is a secular document, that it prohibits religious tests for public office, and that constitutional rights have been expanded over time through the efforts of Americans who fought to make the nation live up to its founding ideals.”

Politicians should not be allowed to rewrite history by threatening school funding, asserts FFRF. A democracy depends on students learning the truth, not a sanitized version of the past.

FFRF urges Congress to reject HR 8705 and instead support history and civics education that promotes critical thinking, constitutional literacy and an honest understanding of America’s successes and failures. Students deserve facts, not politically motivated censorship.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with about 41,000 members and several chapters across the country. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

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