Florida teachers navigate their first year unr the 'Don't Say Gay' law

Contents:

• GAY TEACHERS SHOULDN’T HAVE TO HI WHO THEY ARE
• THE PLIGHT OF BEG A GAY TEACHER
• ‘I DON’T WANT TO TALK TO THE GAY ONE’: LGBTQ TEACHERS SAY THEY ARE FIGHTG ERASURE THEIR OWN CLASSROOMS
• FLORIDA TEACHER UNR VTIGATN FOR SHOWG DISNEY MOVIE WH GAY CHARACTER SAYS SHE DIDN’T KNOW LGBTQ RTRICTN APPLIED TO HER CLASS
• ‘I’M AAID TO RETURN TO THE CLASSROOM': A GAY TEACHER OF THE YEAR SPEAKS OUT
• AS FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW TAK EFFECT, SCHOOLS ROLL OUT LGBTQ RTRICTNS
• GLENDALE THIRD-GRA TEACHER SHOWED GAY PRI VIOS. A YEAR LATER, FUR BATE EPTS
• FLORIDA TEACHERS NAVIGATE THEIR FIRST YEAR UNR THE 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW
• FIRG OF GAY CATHOLIC SCHOOL TEACHER ULD TT LATT SUPREME COURT LG

GAY TEACHERS SHOULDN’T HAVE TO HI WHO THEY ARE

After about a the classroom, he was named the bt tor Kentucky September 2021 -- but at the same time, he said, a small but vol mory his ral town Montgomery County went after, who is gay, told ABC News that he was sgled out for actually protectg LGBTQ kids his school and their fai, which ma him a said that earlier this year, a muny member who was postg about him on social media also repeatedly went to unty school board meetgs to report predatn and so-lled child "groomg" -- a term that has bee popular nservative circl for allegatns of adults sexually manipulatg said this person, who had not named him at the board meetgs but repeatedly referenced him by name onle, also "doxxed" him and some of his stunts on Facebook by sharg their private, acrdg to Carver, he and some stunts' parents asked Montgomery County Supertennt Dr.

"Many crics labeled the "Don't Say Gay" bill. Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights Edutn bill -- which don't specifilly e the word "gay, " though broadly rtricts talk of sexualy and genr -- to law earlier this year rponse to "woke genr iology. "Joshua Block is a staff attorney wh the Natnal ACLU’s Lbian Gay Bisexual Transgenr & HIV "We need to be teachg them to read or wre, to add, to subtract, " he said -- addg that "the purpose of our schools is to te kids not to doctrate them.

THE PLIGHT OF BEG A GAY TEACHER

"This is the exact oppose of what we need, " Kryk, a gay fifth-gra teacher outsi of Tampa, told ABC News.

‘I DON’T WANT TO TALK TO THE GAY ONE’: LGBTQ TEACHERS SAY THEY ARE FIGHTG ERASURE THEIR OWN CLASSROOMS

He intifi as gay. Before the bill was passed, some Democrats unsuccsfully attempted to make more specific -- rtrictg stctn on sexual activy rather than orientatn, for though many who spoke wh ABC News said they are disappoted the law's lack of clary, some gay teachers don't see an issue wh . Pancholy's Stonewall Honor-wng novel "The Bt at It" follows 12-year-old Rahul Kapoor, who is not only figurg out his cultural inty as an Indian-Amerin but is also jt begng to realize that he might be gay.

And so what's next: gay marriage? I am gay! For Damon Zuima, a former K–8 mic tor, was important for his stunts to know that he is gay and for his admistratn to be supportive of his cisn to share so openly wh his class.

When asked if he felt prsure to hi his sexualy to his stunts, Connor Schmidt, a primary school teacher Beijg who is openly gay, shared:. Jonny Vriema, a physil tn teacher Jacksonville, Florida, who intifi as a gay Christian, fears that his sire to live out his fah and teach wh relig schools will create nflict. Damon’s rponse to his send grar’s surprise about him beg gay was an easy one.

FLORIDA TEACHER UNR VTIGATN FOR SHOWG DISNEY MOVIE WH GAY CHARACTER SAYS SHE DIDN’T KNOW LGBTQ RTRICTN APPLIED TO HER CLASS

Durg Kristal Torr’s sophomore year of high school, she transferred om an all-girls Catholic school to a ed public high school. Sanford, a teacher who was openly gay.

‘I’M AAID TO RETURN TO THE CLASSROOM': A GAY TEACHER OF THE YEAR SPEAKS OUT

“I grew up an upper middle class, relig area Oh where didn't really feel like gay people existed. I had iends theater who were gay, but I didn't see any exampl of what life would be like as a gay adult. It wasn't until I was llege and had profsors who were gay that I really had any picture of what was like to be a gay adult a regular relatnship wh a fay.

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

"I didn't have a teacher who I knew intified until my sophomore year of llege.

“This year I've been very openly out wh stunts, but a lot of that was motivated by my first year of teachg where I was tryg to bat issu of homophobia and transphobia. ” I did a home vis where I spoke to the mom and I remember tellg her that I was actually gay and I thk really helped her and ma her feel more relieved.

GLENDALE THIRD-GRA TEACHER SHOWED GAY PRI VIOS. A YEAR LATER, FUR BATE EPTS

“When I was workg rporate, I was out and unapologetilly gay.

As a gay teacher who hadn’t e out to his stunts or staff, he felt hamstng.

FLORIDA TEACHERS NAVIGATE THEIR FIRST YEAR UNR THE 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW

In 1978, the state of California proposed a law—a ballot measure wily known as the Briggs Iniative—which would've prohibed openly gay and lbian teachers om workg the state’s public schools. In five stat—Indiana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Virgia—gay people n get legally married but also legally fired by an employer for beg gay, a Washgton Post map shows.

In San Bernado, California, for example, a lbian teacher challenged her school district urt wh help om the Amerin Civil Liberti Unn, allegg that she was fired after attemptg to help the school’s Gay Straight Alliance chapter.

FIRG OF GAY CATHOLIC SCHOOL TEACHER ULD TT LATT SUPREME COURT LG

"In the years before I had tenure, there was no way I was gog to let someone’s else’s homophobia jeopardize my reer, " Bunger said.

"Even teachers stat wh legal protectn worry that homophobic school lears n still fd a way to fire them regardls. "My stunts mostly e om Caribbean scent, where homosexualy is tradnally owned upon, " said Lamar Shambley, a sixth-gra math teacher New York who hasn’t e out to his stunts.