Drawing on two years of interviews with parents and educators across central Kentucky following the passage of anti-LGBTQ Senate Bill 150 (2023), this study challenges prevailing narratives about “indoctrination” in schools.
Contrary to political rhetoric, parents express little concern about children being influenced by queer identities through books, classrooms, or libraries. Instead, the discourse surrounding the parental rights in education movement fosters a moral panic-one that frames inclusive education and queer communities as symbolic threats. The authors introduce the concept of “playground politics” to describe how lawmakers and advocacy groups strategically label inclusive educators as 'indoctrinators,' co-opting their opponents' language to suppress certain ideas from public discourse. This work reveals how such tactics aim not only to control educational content but to narrow the boundaries of what is considered thinkable across society.

Jamie Shenton is associate professor of anthropology at Centre College in Danville, KY.
Sarah E. Koch is a PhD student in sociology at Vanderbilt University.