FLORIDA’S controversial Don’t Say Gay bill was approved by the education committee in the Senate on February 8, 2022. The bill will now need to be approved by two other Florida Senate committees who can make changes before the bill is sent to the full chamber for approval. What is Florida’s Don’t Say Gay bill? […]
FLORIDA’S controversial Don’t Say Gay bill was approved by the education committee in the Senate on February 8, 2022.
The bill will now need to be approved by two other Florida Senate committees who can make changes before the bill is sent to the full chamber for approval.
Florida has enacted a Don’t Say Gay bill that prohibits schools and teachers from discussing LGBTQ issues and requires educators to inform parents of their child’s sexual orientation.
The bill will not permit educating the students on LGBTQ issues and has resulted in banned books and the removal of gay pride stickers and posters in classrooms.
The Don’t Say Gay bill says, “A school district may not encourage classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.”
Rep. Joe Harding, R-Williston is sponsoring the bill and told The Tampa Bay Times, “I want folks that oppose the bill to be really clear on what they’re actually opposing.
“I want them to go on record to say it’s OK for a six-year-old to have one identity in school and one at home because the school encourages that kind of behavior.”
Delaney Ocock is an LGBTQ student at Olympia High School in Orlando, and in an interview with CBS News, she said, “The bill is sending a message to LGBTQ youth that they have something to be ashamed about, that their identities are so taboo that they shouldn’t even be talked about in classrooms.
“In a world that already shames LGBTQ people enough, children who are learning and developing who they are don’t need any more of that stigma.”
“If I hadn’t had that experience of having a really awesome accepting middle school experience, I definitely wouldn’t be as vocal about who I am in my identity today,” she added.
“Having that really normalized it for me and made me not afraid to speak about who I am.”
The already implemented version of Florida’s Don’t Say Gay bill currently directs schools to consider whether a child would be put in danger by potentially abusive family members if they were informed of their child’s sexual identity.
However, the new changes to the bill would remove this requirement. The Trevor Project published a National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health 2021 which found that out of more than 82k youths who participated, only one-third reported that their home is LGBTQ-affirming.
The study also reported, “LGBTQ youth who had access to spaces that affirmed their sexual orientation and gender identity reported lower rates of attempting suicide than those who did not.”
An amendment to the Don’t Say Gay bill will also give educators only six weeks to inform the families if their child identifies with another gender.
Rep. Ana Eskamani, D-Orlando has proposed an amendment directed at protecting students from the negative consequences of their school outing them to their parents.
If passed, the amendment will allow students to sue the Florida Department of Education if they experience negative repercussions from being outed to their families.
The amendment will permit the students to sue the Florida Department of Education for damages due to “irreparable harm” and attorney fees.
At a roundtable meeting on February 7, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis defended the bill and said, “We’ve seen instances of students being told by different folks in school, ‘Oh, don’t worry. Don’t pick your gender yet. Do all this other stuff.’ They won’t tell the parents about these discussions that are happening.
“That is entirely inappropriate. Schools need to be teaching kids to read, to write. They need to teach them science, history. We need more civics.”
The Florida House will vote this week on the 14 amendments of the bill and will have to receive a majority approval before advancing to the next stages of the legislative process.
The Trevor Project has publicly condemned the Don’t Say Gay bill and said it is “erasing” those who identify as LGBTQ.
Sam Ames, the Trevor Project’s director of advocacy and government affairs said in a statement, “Banning speech about sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms would not only be an infringement on civil rights, it would also erase entire chapters of history, classic literature, and critical health information from textbooks, to say nothing of erasing students themselves.
“LGBTQ youth deserve to learn that they are not alone.”
President Joe Biden has also spoken out against the bill and said in a statement on Twitter, “I want every member of the LGBTQI+ community — especially the kids who will be impacted by this hateful bill — to know that you are loved and accepted just as you are.
“I have your back, and my Administration will continue to fight for the protection and safety you deserve.”
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