Fact-checkg 3 proment claims about Florida's ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill - Poynter

Contents:

• WHAT’S GOG ON WH FLORIDA’S TERRIFYG NEW ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL?
• A BREAKDOWN OF THE LANGUAGE FLORIDA’S SO-LLED ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL
• FACT-CHECKG 3 PROMENT CLAIMS ABOUT FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL
• SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' L EXPAND THROUGH 12TH GRA FLORIDA

WHAT’S GOG ON WH FLORIDA’S TERRIFYG NEW ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL?

But Florida’s Parental Rights Edutn act — which crics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill — has sudnly sparked a natnal war of words.In recent weeks, lears of global rporatns, edorial boards of major newspapers and Hollywood actors have all weighed on the proposed legislatn, wh some llg “eply disturbg” and others “nonntroversial.” Kate McKnon ripped to the bill durg a recent “Weekend Update” segment on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” The hosts of the ABC talk show “The View” mulled over the policy for more than seven mut on air last month. Ron DeSantis, who has said he supports the bill but hasn't signed yet, and Disney CEO Bob Chapek.Supporters of HB 1557 say would give parents greater ntrol over their children’s tn, vditg their “parental thory.” Conversely, opponents say would unfairly target the LGBTQ muny — particularly gay and trans stunts —  and is “pretendg to solve a problem that don’t exist.”So, which is ?For starters, cricism that the “Don’t Say Gay” bill do not fact say “gay” anywhere s text is te.

The bill, which passed Florida’s Senate last week and the state’s Hoe of Reprentativ Febary, do, however, nta the terms “sexual orientatn” and “genr inty,” each twice.But legal experts say that whether the bill prohibs the word “gay” self is a “distractn.”“In the same way that cril race theory isn’t beg tght schools, that hasn’t stopped people like the ernor of Florida om ployg the term ‘cril race theory’ efforts to engage certa kds of polil manvergs,” said Charlton Copeland, a profsor at the Universy of Miami School of Law who wr about sexual orientatn and genr inty. “The ‘Don’t Say Gay’ moniker is a moniker about a certa polil amg of this suatn.”Beyond brandg, a re argument over the bill centers around whether would prohib the “stctn” or “discsn” of sexual orientatn.The bill’s sponsors have emphatilly stated that the bill would not prohib stunts om talkg about their LGBTQ fai or bar classroom discsns about LGBTQ history, cludg events like the 2016 adly attack on the Pulse nightclub, a gay club Orlando. The same is unfortunately te Florida, where a piece of legislatn dubbed the Don’t Say Gay bill has worked s way through the state’s Senate.

Below, fd everythg you need to know about the bill, as well as who’s opposed to and when uld bee is the Don’t Say Gay bill? The Parental Rights Edutn bill—also known as the Don’t Say Gay bill—prevents schools om cludg material about sexual orientatn or genr inty their curriculums, notg that lsons “may not occur krgarten through gra three or a manner that is not age appropriate or velopmentally appropriate for stunts acrdance wh state standards. If DeSantis do sign the Don’t Say Gay bill, will go to effect on July 1, is Disney volved?

A BREAKDOWN OF THE LANGUAGE FLORIDA’S SO-LLED ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL

Many LGBTQ+ Disney employe have exprsed outrage at their pany’s weak rponse to the Don’t Say Gay bill.

Ron DeSantis signed the “Parental Rights Edutn” bill Monday, which opponents ri as the “don’t say gay” bill, he repeated what he has been sayg sce the ntroversial bill first emerged Florida: “Leftist policians, activists and rporate media” are gettg the tent of the bill all wrong.

FACT-CHECKG 3 PROMENT CLAIMS ABOUT FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL

”The text of the seven-page bill never mentns the word “gay.

But some LGBTQ advot worry that the provisn uld lead to schools outg gay or transgenr kids to their parents, potentially exacerbatg mental health challeng stunts already Manny Diaz, R-Hialeah, told the Senate durg legislative bate on March 8 that a unselor would not be required to ntact a parent if a stunt to them to say “they are nfed and they feel like they may be gay. ”But this is the provisn that giv opponents the most ncern bee they believe s vague wordg will prompt teachers to self-censor and avoid g words like “gay” and other genr-clive terms their classrooms, no matter the gra.

SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' L EXPAND THROUGH 12TH GRA FLORIDA

But crics nicknamed HB 1557 the “don’t say gay” bill, warng isn’t necsary and mak some stunts feel unsafe by sglg out LGBTQ material as dangero and appropriate. Dennis Baxley (R-Ola) the bill’s Senate sponsor who said he was addrsg “social engeerg” that uld rult more children intifyg as gay or transgenr.

” The guidance clus fns of terms related to sexual orientatn and genr inty — cludg gay, lbian and transgenr — that teachers are enuraged to e when applible. ” The word ‘gay’ People on Facebook and Twter have said that Florida Republins want to ban the word “gay” school.

“GOP’s 2022 platform: Ban books, Ban abortn, Ban Black history, Ban transgenr teens, Ban sayg ‘gay’ and Ban votg, ” said Dean Obeidallah, a left-leang rad host and edian, on March 11.