Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' Bill Is Part of a Shameful History | Time

Contents:

• HERE'S WHAT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL WOULD DO AND WHAT WOULDN'T DO
• LGBTQ GROUPS SUE FLORIDA OVER THE SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW
• AS FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW TAK EFFECT, SCHOOLS ROLL OUT LGBTQ RTRICTNS
• FLORIDA JT PASSED THE "DON'T SAY GAY" BILL. HERE’S WHAT IT MEANS FOR KIDS
• ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL: FLORIDA SENATE PASS LAW MARGALIZG LGBTQ+ PEOPLE
• 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL PASS FLORIDA SENATE
• FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL IS PART OF THE STATE'S LONG, SHAMEFUL HISTORY

HERE'S WHAT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL WOULD DO AND WHAT WOULDN'T DO

The ACLU of Florida recently enjoyed a major victory for LGBT rights by challengg and succeedg overturng the state’s discrimatory law banng gay men and lbians om adoptg.

Opposn of religly based refals to serve gay and lbian people? Support of homosexualy by US state? HistoryHomosexual activy Florida?

Homosexual activy Florida is legal. Current statSce Jun 26, 2003Legal Legal due to the US Supreme lg about homosexual marriage Florida?

LGBTQ GROUPS SUE FLORIDA OVER THE SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW

But Florida’s Parental Rights Edutn act — which crics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill — has sudnly sparked a natnal war of 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. ” 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.

For starters, cricism that the “Don’t Say Gay” bill do not fact say “gay” anywhere s text is te.

AS FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW TAK EFFECT, SCHOOLS ROLL OUT LGBTQ RTRICTNS

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 legal experts say that whether the bill prohibs the word “gay” self is a “distractn. “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 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.

Ron DeSantis displays the signed Parental Rights Edutn, the so-lled "Don't Say Gay" bill, flanked by elementary school stunts durg a news nference on Monday at Classil Preparatory school Shady Hills, Fla.

— Gay rights advot sued Florida Gov. Crics ll the "Don't Say Gay" law and argue that s te tent is to margalize LGBTQ people and their fai.

FLORIDA JT PASSED THE "DON'T SAY GAY" BILL. HERE’S WHAT IT MEANS FOR KIDS

Alarmgly rtrictive laws ntue to proliferate across much of the Raedle / GettyThe red-state drive to roll back civil rights is enterg a new phase, perhaps bt symbolized by Florida’s passage this week of the “Don’t Say ‘Gay’” bill censorg how schools discs sexual orientatn. The refal of the Walt Disney Company, one of Florida’s most powerful employers, to publicly cricize Florida’s “Don’t Say ‘Gay’” bill as moved through the legislature has quickly e to symbolize a retreat om the loud public opposn that many pani exprsed to earlier state iativ rtrictg civil liberti, such as the “bathroom bill” North Carola Republins approved the broad range of socially nservative iativ that Florida’s Republin ernor, Ron DeSantis, and the GOP state legislature have advanced sce 2021, bs has been “silent, silent as fuck, they are so silent, ” says Florida Democratic State Reprentative Anna Eskamani, echog a plat I heard across several stat om Democrats and civil-rights advot this week.

This clus laws limg accs to abortn, rtrictg votg rights, banng transgenr girls om participatg high-school or llege sports, barrg transn medil treatment for transgenr mors, censorg how teachers n talk about current or historil racial and genr equi, removg licensg requirements to publicly rry firearms, creasg penalti for public protters, and immunizg drivers who h and jure Watch what’s happeng red statFlorida alone has passed almost every em on that list, and this week add the “Don’t Say ‘Gay’” bill rtrictg classroom discsn of sexual orientatn. ” Although many big rporatns touted their mment to Black History Month Febary, he not, they “are not willg to put their hand on the sle to stop the removal of Mart Luther Kg and Rosa Parks om our public schools” or to stand up unequivolly for votg rporate rponse was even more muted to the “Don’t Say ‘Gay’” legislatn Florida passed Tuday.

Disney’s reticence on the “Don’t Say ‘Gay’” bill ntrasted wh s activist role agast other nservative legislatn unr s former chairman and CEO Robert Iger. ”Bin also tweeted stern opposn to Florida’s “Don’t Say ‘Gay’” bill, and when passed on Tuday, Edutn Secretary Miguel Cardona issued a stronger statement of nmnatn than he’s offered on any of the earlier state-level bills targetg curriculum. As Florida’s Parental Rights Edutn law — or what crics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law — go to effect Friday, some of the state’s public school districts have begun rollg out new polici to lim LGBTQ issu and inti om beg discsed the Tuday night, the Leon County School Board unanimoly approved s “LGBTQ Inclive School Gui, ” which clus a provisn to alert parents if a stunt who is “open about their genr inty” is their child’s physil tn class or wh them on an overnight school trip.

‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL: FLORIDA SENATE PASS LAW MARGALIZG LGBTQ+ PEOPLE

Clifford / AP fileThe so-lled Don’t Say Gay law, HB 1557, bans “stctn” about sexual orientatn or genr inty “ krgarten through gra 3 or a manner that is not age appropriate or velopmentally appropriate for stunts acrdance wh state standards. ” A provisn the law also requir school staff members to alert parents about “cril cisns affectg a stunt’s mental, emotnal, or physil health or well-beg, ” which many advot have terpreted as a way to force tors to out their gay or trans stunts.

They have also ntend that will not prohib teachers and stunts om talkg about their LGBTQ fai or bar classroom discsns about LGBTQ history, cludg events like the 2016 attack at the Pulse gay nightclub crics and legal experts have said the broad language of the law uld open school districts and teachers to lawsus om parents who believe any nversatn about LGBTQ people or issu is “not age appropriate. Carlos Smh, a Democrat who is gay and has been an outspoken cric of the new law, said he was “not surprised” that schools the state were announcg the polici and guil.

“What’s happeng right now — wh the censorship of rabow flags and school districts preparg to basilly ph LGBTQ stunts and teachers to the closet — is exactly what we said would happen wh the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law. "Members and supporters of the LGBTQ muny at the "Say Gay Anyway" rally Miami Beach, Fla., on March 13. Chandan Khanna / AFP via Getty Imag fileFive other stat — all of them the South — have enacted laws that lim stctn or discsns about LGBTQ people or issu school, and at least 32 others have proposed such measur this year, acrdg to acrdg to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ thk tank that has been trackg the strsed that the polici will have nsequenc for lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer stunts, potg to the disproportnately high rat of suici attempts among the untry’s LGBTQ youths.

'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL PASS FLORIDA SENATE

”In Palm Beach County, Woods, who is gay, said that after they received the qutnnaire om school officials to flag urse material or books wh LGBTQ referenc, many of his lleagu are nervo they’ll be reprimand if they miss somethg.

The ntroversial law, dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by s opponents, is set to take effect July. The platiffs Thursday’s lawsu clu Equaly Florida, an LGBTQ advocy anizatn; Fay Equaly, a New York-based nonprof; a 17-year-old sophomore Palmetto, Florida, who intifi as gay; an 18-year-old senr Osprey, Florida, who intifi as gay; the parent of a transgenr fifth-grar Florida; three same-sex upl livg Florida wh young children; and a middle-school public teacher Grand Ridge, Florida.

“They’re jt ntug the fear mongerg om ssn, ” says Jon Harris Mrer, public policy director for Equaly Florida, scribg 2023 legislative chang that fall squarely to the more-of-the-same-homophobic-nonsense tegory. DeSantis support of anti-gay vio lled bad strategy, worse msage. A provisn that would extend the famo “Don’t Say Gay” provisns to middle schools.

FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL IS PART OF THE STATE'S LONG, SHAMEFUL HISTORY

Florida needs more public officials to fd the urage to stand up to Florida’s self-signated emperor and say “Governor, for someone so foced on ‘Don’t Say Gay, ’ you sure seem to brg up a lot. The Florida Senate passed the ntroversial so-lled “Don’t Say Gay” bill on Tuday, sendg the Republin-backed legislatn banng LGBTQ stctn primary schools to Gov. The proposed law, often referred to by crics as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, bans public school districts om teachg about sexual orientatn or genr inty krgarten through the third gra, or “ a manner that is not age-appropriate or velopmentally appropriate for stunts”—language that crics say uld extend the ban to higher gra levels.

” Read more: Kid of the Year Falist Kai Shappley, 11, Tak on Lawmakers Her Fight for Trans Rights What impact uld the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill have?