Do Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill vlate the First Amendment? – The Hill

Contents:

• AFTER YEARS OF PROGRS ON GAY RIGHTS, HOW DID THE US BEE SO ANTI-LGBTQ+?
• COURT RUL THAT TRAGIC POLICE OUTG OF GAY TEEN VLATED CONSTUTNAL RIGHTS; ACLU SE BROAD IMPACT
• THE NSTUTNAL PROBLEM WH FLORIDA’S “DON’T SAY GAY” BILL
• DO FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL VLATE THE FIRST AMENDMENT?
• WHAT DO ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ ACTUALLY SAY?
• NAMIBIAN MPS BACK ANTI-GAY LAW SPE SUPREME COURT LG
• FLORIDA'S ERNOR SIGNS NTROVERSIAL LAW OPPONENTS DUBBED 'DON'T SAY GAY'
• THE SOLUTN TO "GAY" INSULTS: FREEDOM OF SPEECH
• THE ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL IS WORSE THAN IT SOUNDS
• LGBTQ GROUP SU FLORIDA GOV. RON DESANTIS OVER NTROVERSIAL 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW
• WHAT'S THE SO-LLED DON'T SAY GAY BILL THAT ULD IMPACT THE WHOLE UNTRY
• SUPREME COURT L WORKERS N'T BE FIRED FOR BEG GAY OR TRANSGENR
• GLOBAL REGNN OF HUMAN RIGHTS FOR LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR PEOPLE
• HERE ARE THE PENALTI FOR DIVIDUALS FOUND VLATN OF THE ANTI-GAY BILL WHEN IS PASSED
• 5 FILMS YOU CAN STREAM NOW TO LEARN ABOUT THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
• EGYPTIAN OFFICIALS SYSTEMILLY ABE AND TORTURE GAYS, RIGHTS GROUP SAYS
• IN LANDMARK DECISN, SUPREME COURT RUL THAT TLE VII PROHIBS EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMATN OF GAY AND TRANSGENR INDIVIDUALS

AFTER YEARS OF PROGRS ON GAY RIGHTS, HOW DID THE US BEE SO ANTI-LGBTQ+?

A rash of laws ncerng the teachg of human sexualy school curricula, banng trans stunt athlet and strippg parents of the right to help their genr-variant children obta appropriate re have popped up numero red stat this same-sex marriage is now part of the fabric of Ameri, nservativ have chosen to explo Amerins’ unfaiary wh trans people and piggyback on parental anger over the perceived overreach of Covid-era school closur, nflatg wh an sid sense of “wokens”, the hop of fdg an electorally viable sluiceway for anti-LGBTQ+ most famo of the anti-LGBTQ+ laws is the piece of Florida legislatn banng stctn on sexual orientatn or genr inty schools between krgarten and third gra, the so-lled “don’t say gay” law.

COURT RUL THAT TRAGIC POLICE OUTG OF GAY TEEN VLATED CONSTUTNAL RIGHTS; ACLU SE BROAD IMPACT

He was followed by Arizona’s ernor, Doug Ducey, who, after barrg mors om genr-affirmatn treatment, wouldn’t even state for the rerd that trans people were Florida lawmaker Michele Rayner-Goolsby, left, hugs her wife, Bian Goolsby, durg a march at cy hall St Petersburg agast the ‘don’t say gay’ bill. Photograph: Bob Daemmrich/Zuma Wire/Rex/ShutterstockPolicians are supported the media by mentators like Tucker Carlson, who claimed “no one had heard of this trans thg four years ago”, or Charlie Kirk, channelg 1980s fears sayg “gays want to rpt your children” rejuvenated, the right wg is poised to make transphobia and homophobia rnerston of the midterms and 2024 electns, wh promis to liver “don’t say gay” legislatn stat cludg Michigan and New Perks, the print of the Fay Rearch Council, a nservative lobbyg group, veighed agast the ernors of Indiana and Utah for vetog legislatn banng trans women om participatg sports, llg the bills “timely, mastream protectns”.

”The bs-iendly wg of the GOP that would quietly team up wh Democrats to scuttle rabidly homophobic bills is now outnumbered, and legislators a dozen or more stat that lean even farther to the right than DeSantis are takg, the Natnal Center for Lbian Rights legal director, believ Florida is the tt se for a renewed ph for an aggrsive, Christian-natnalist program.

“I thought was really important to ph back on the policy level, and to send a clear signal that California and other stat really re about the kids, ” he believ that “don’t say gay” is “patently unnstutnal” but also ntends that relyg on the judicial system to protect human rights may no longer be a sound optn.

THE NSTUTNAL PROBLEM WH FLORIDA’S “DON’T SAY GAY” BILL

“I am eply alarmed by a wispread, profoundly negative ripti created by liberate actns to roll back the human rights of LGBT people at state level, ” he said, notg that the clu eply discrimatory measur seekg to rebuild stigma agast lbian and gay persons, limg prehensive sexual and genr tn for all, and accs to genr-affirmg treatment, sports and sgle-sex facili for trans and genr diverse persons. Florida’s urts, other words, might rcue the Don’t Say Gay bill om a lawsu claimg is unnstutnally vague by providg clear fns for terms like “classroom stctn” and “age appropriate” that would allow a person “of mon telligence” to terme what sort of stctn is allowed and what kd of stctn is forbidn. The state Edutn Department uld potentially do so as well, when gets around to updatg s standards to expla how teachers n ply wh the Don’t Say Gay bill — although, aga, is possible that state urt judg will reject the standards and substute their own terpretatn of the Don’t Say Gay bill’s language.

Seventy-three untri, or 37 percent of the Uned Natns, clare same-sex physil relatns illegal, acrdg to a prehensive survey of sexual orientatn laws om the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (ILGA), Iran, Sdi Arabia, and Yemen ll for the ath penalty natnwi for same-sex relatns, the report says, while other plac n impose ath penalti regnally, along wh f and prison sentenc. Human Rights Watch has documented anti-LGBT vlence and threats faced by gay men and trans women Antigua and Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda has unrgone LGBTI sensizatn trag to better protect the rights of LGBTI people, facilated by Caribbean 2016, followg s UN Universal Perdic Review, the mister of social transformatn announced that she was willg to troduce to Cabet a remendatn to repeal the buggery laws, but as of 2021, they rema place Antigua and November 2019, the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversy and Equaly announced planned to lnch a legal challenge agast the crimalizatn of private, nsensual same-sex sexual activy. Dpe Colombia’s strong legal protectns on the basis of sexual orientatn and genr inty, the human rights ombudsperson has raised ncerns about high levels of vlence agast lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr rponse to the Covid-19 panmic, on April 8, 2020 the ernment of Bogotá tablished a genr-based quarante.

”For several months, Egyptians livg wh HIV, cludg gay men, faced obstacl to accsg HIV treatment as they feared retrievg their meditn om fever hospals, the only centers where people livg wh HIV n accs lifavg meditns, after the ernment signated them as treatment centers for Covid-19.

DO FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL VLATE THE FIRST AMENDMENT?

In spe of this law, lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) activists succsfully held the first ever “Eswati Pri” event June 2018, wh hundreds marchg the streets of Mbabane support of LGBT October 20, 2020, the Eswati High Court heard a challenge om Eswati Sexual and Genr Mori (ESGM) agast the Eswati Registrar of Compani’ refal to register ESGM as a pany. The amendment f “aggravated homosexualy” to clu serial offenrs or persons wh a prev nvictn for homosexualy, persons who admister dgs or substanc orr to have “unlawful rnal nnectn” wh a person of the same sex, persons havg same-sex relatns wh someone unr the age of 18 or wh a person who has a disabily, or a person wh HIV havg same sex sexual relatns. Article 401 holds that any person who ms an “immost act” public n be imprisoned for up to six months, a vague provisn that uld be ed to target sexual and genr mori, although such s have not been the years, thori have not held acuntable perpetrators, cludg secury forc, of kidnappgs, torture, and killgs of people perceived as gay and transgenr.

The clu a 2015 High Court lg favor of the Natnal Gay and Lbian Human Rights Commissn a se volvg eedom of assembly and associatn, which has been appealed by the ernment and currently awas rolutn at the Supreme Court; a 2018 Appeals Court lg prohibg forced anal examatns; and lgs affirmg transgenr and tersex people’s rights. Morocn law also crimaliz what refers to as acts of “sexual viancy” between members of the same sex, a term that thori e to refer to homosexualy more generally, and punish them wh prison terms of up to three April 2020, multiple dividuals nducted a mpaign of onle harassment of prumed gay and bisexual men.

WHAT DO ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ ACTUALLY SAY?

It ed panic among people who sought to protect their privacy due to the social stigma toward homosexualy and the legal prohibn of same-sex a memorandum published October 2019, the Natnal Human Rights Council, a state-appoted body, remend crimalizg nsensual sex between non-married adults.

Nigerian law crimaliz same-sex nduct as well as public show of same-sex amoro relatnships, same-sex marriag, and the registratn of gay clubs, societi, and December 2019, 47 men were put on trial for public displays of affectn wh members of the same sex, an offence that rri a 10-year jail term unr the Same Sex Marriage Prohibn law, enacted 2014. Polish thori’ crackdown on LGBT rights activists tensified 2020, particular on Augt 7, when hundreds of monstrators gathered outsi the Warsaw offic of the Campaign Agast Homophobia, an LGBT rights group, to prott an orr to arrt a non-bary activist named Margo Szutowicz acced of g damage June to a tck promotg false anti-LGBT propaganda.

NAMIBIAN MPS BACK ANTI-GAY LAW SPE SUPREME COURT LG

However, activists reported that dividual bans on public LGBTI events ntued to be imposed the May 2020, the Ankara prosecutor’s office opened a crimal se agast Ankara Bar Associatn after filed a plat agast the head of Turkey’s Relig Affairs Directorate for a homophobic January and Febary 2021, police cracked down on stunts prottg Print Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s appotment of an amic closely aligned wh the ernment as rector of one of Turkey’s top universi.

In April 2020, the UN Human Rights Commtee, followg s review of the Uzbek ernment, lled on to repeal the same provisn and exprsed ncerns about “ntug reports of discrimatn, harassment and vlence, cludg extortn, arbrary arrt, torture and sexual abe, agast lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr persons by State officials and private dividuals, cludg plac of privatn of liberty, and about the mandatory disclosure of private medil rmatn. Evince shows that when discrimatn public heath re centers and hospals is route, this leads to a climate of fear that fuels human rights vlatns and ters transgenr women, gay men and other men who have sex wh men (MSM) om seekg and adherg to HIV preventn, treatment, re, and support servic. Malawi’s anti-homosexualy laws ntravene several regnal and ternatnal human rights treati which Malawi has ratified, cludg the Ain Charter on Human and Peopl’ Rights (Ain Charter), the Internatnal Covenant on Civil and Polil Rights (ICCPR) and the Internatnal Covenant on Enomic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

This report is based primarily on rmatn llected durg two weeks of field rearch Lilongwe and Blantyre May 2018, telephone terviews June and July 2018, and terviews wh Malawian activists durg the Pan Ai Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr and Intersex Associatn (ILGA) Conference held June 2018 Gaborone, Botswana. The unwillgns of Malawian thori to repeal the anti-homosexualy laws fosters a climate of fear, fuels stigma and discrimatn health re settgs, hibs dividuals om seekg servic and promis the right to the hight attaable standard of health for gay men and other men who have sex wh men (MSM).

FLORIDA'S ERNOR SIGNS NTROVERSIAL LAW OPPONENTS DUBBED 'DON'T SAY GAY'

In a January 21, 2014 letter to the Executive Secretary of the Human Rights Commissn, CEDEP, CHRR and Malawi Network of Relig Lears Livg wh HIV (MANERELA+), exprsed grave ncern regardg the Commissn’s cisn and s silence on the human rights issu affectg lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr people Malawi. [74] They saw the cisn not to engage the se as particularly problematic light of the 2014 ncludg observatns of the UN Human Rights Commtee, which had exprsed ncern regardg the “reluctance of the Commissn to engage issu related to the rights of lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex persons. In rponse to Ken Msonda’s Facebook post llg for gays and lbians to be killed, two activists, Gift Trapence and Timothy Pagonachi, filed a plat wh the Rint Magistrate Blantyre allegg vlatn of sectn 124(1)(b) of the Penal Co that Msonda “did tend to, and did enurage or enavor to persua any person Malawi to murr persons of actual or perceived homosexual sexual orientatn and…such enuragement and enavorg to persua was that the natural and reasonable effect of the statement to published.

THE SOLUTN TO "GAY" INSULTS: FREEDOM OF SPEECH

Sentence has earned the bill the “Don’t Say Gay” nickname:L 97-101: Classroom stctn by school personnel or third parti on sexual orientatn or genr inty may not occur krgarten through gra 3 or a manner that is not age appropriate or velopmentally appropriate for stunts acrdance wh state impact is clear enough: Instctn on genr and sexualy would be nstraed all gras.

THE ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL IS WORSE THAN IT SOUNDS

That uld disurage a teacher om speakg about gay fai wh the whole class, even if some stunts have gay bill also targets mental health and unselg servic — a place where stunts often have difficult nversatns about genr inty and sexualy, pecially if they stggle to talk about those nversatns at as Florida revis s school unselg standards, adopted 2010, which affirm genr and sexual diversy unselg. "Gay sex is banned Namibia unr a rarely-enforced 1927 sodomy the southern Ain untry has seen a flurry of urt s on the rights of same-sex upl to marry, bee parents and immigrate recent May, the Supreme Court said that same-sex marriag ntracted abroad between Namibian cizens and foreign spo should be lg enraged social nservativ the sparsely populated, largely Christian untry, a popular tourist statn rich wildlife and natural legal experts and opposn policians have utned that by directly ntradictg a Supreme Court lg the new law might be unnstutnal -- and challenge the mocratic foundatns of the untry.

LGBTQ GROUP SU FLORIDA GOV. RON DESANTIS OVER NTROVERSIAL 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW

Crics ll the "Don't Say Gay" law and argue that s te tent is to margalize LGBTQ people and their challenge filed feral urt Tallahassee by the Natnal Center for Lbian Rights on behalf of Equaly Florida and Fay Equaly alleg that the law vlat the First Amendment and other provisns of the U.

WHAT'S THE SO-LLED DON'T SAY GAY BILL THAT ULD IMPACT THE WHOLE UNTRY

For example, the Internatnal Gay and Lbian Human Rights Commissn (IGLHRC) has existed for the past 16 years to secure the full enjoyment of the human rights of LGBT people and muni subject to discrimatn or abe on the basis of sexual orientatn or exprsn, genr inty or exprsn, and/or HIV stat. ”44 The UN Human Rights Commtee, which monors pliance wh the Internatnal Covenant on Civil and Polil Rights, found that laws punishg adult nsensual homosexual acts vlate the Covenant’s guarante of nondiscrimatn and privacy and held that discrimatn on the basis of sexual orientatn is prohibed unr Articl 2 and 26 of the Covenant. ” She next talked about the nstant fear experienced by LGBT people, “… fear of the police and officials wh the power to arrt and ta simply bee of our sexual orientatn … fear that our fai will disown … [that we will be] forced out of [our] fay hom … wh nowhere else to go, and th bee homels, have no food, and rort to sex work orr to survive … fear wh our muni, where we face nstant harassment and vlence om neighbors and others [while the] … homophobic attacks go unpunished by thori.

SUPREME COURT L WORKERS N'T BE FIRED FOR BEG GAY OR TRANSGENR

”Then Eddy spoke about the nnectn between the nial of LGBT existence and the risk of HIV transmissn: “Acrdg to a recent rearch study published December 2003 by the Sierra Leone Lbian and Gay Associatn llaboratn wh Health Way Sierra Leone, 90% of men who have sex wh men also have sex wh women, eher their wiv or girliends. GENEVA (29 March 2023) – Makg homosexualy punishable by ath is an egreg vlatn of human rights, UN experts said today, urgg Uganda’s print not to promulgate laws that take aim at and further crimalise people intifyg as lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT), and those who support and fend their human rights.

By the time the Stonewall Rts end on July 2, 1969, the gay rights movement went om beg a ge issue largely ignored by policians and the media to ont-page news Gay Pri ParaOne year later, durg the anniversary of the Stonewall Rts, activists New York Cy marched through the streets of Manhattan memoratn of the uprisg.

GLOBAL REGNN OF HUMAN RIGHTS FOR LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR PEOPLE

The atmosphere at the events n range om r, rnivalque celebratns to strint polil prott to solemn memorials for those lost to AIDS or homophobic June 2000, Print Bill Clton officially signated June as Gay and Lbian Pri Month, regnn of the Stonewall Rts and gay activism throughout the years.

7-acre around the Stonewall Inn where the morn gay rights movement, Gay Pri paras many ci are enormo celebratns: The events Sao Plo, Sydney, New York Cy, Madrid, Taipei and Toronto routely attract up to 5 ln Pri Month has grown populary across the globe, cricism of the events has grown, too.

HERE ARE THE PENALTI FOR DIVIDUALS FOUND VLATN OF THE ANTI-GAY BILL WHEN IS PASSED

Many early anizers now cry the mercial fluence and rporate nature of Pri paras—pecially when those rporatns make donatns to policians who vote agast gay, lbian and transgenr Pri events are nohels seen as val protts agast reprsn and isolatn plac such as Serbia, Turkey and Rsia, where Pri paras have been met wh antigay vlence.

Egypt is one of seven untri that forced anal exams to “prove” a person’s homosexualy, acrdg to Human Rights Ahmed, a 27-year-old transgenr man arrted 2019 and released last month, was placed a women’s prison where he was given an ID rd that said “female” and nied his genr-affirmg treatment, acrdg to the report.

5 FILMS YOU CAN STREAM NOW TO LEARN ABOUT THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Government monorgYoun said Egyptian thori actively monor social media and cy streets to crackdown on LGBTQ people and others who are prottg or anizg for civil rights, all of which are labeled as subversn or even Rights Watch said police will set up fake profil masqueradg as gay men on datg apps like Grdr and social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp an attempt to meet public or learn the nam and meetg plac of other queer people for future raids and arrts. Increasgly, he said, Egyptian lears are parrotg “moral” and psdoscientific rhetoric ed by Christian nservativ the Wt, accg queer people of recg children and stroyg humany or claimg homosexualy as a disease or mental illns that harms the immune system and fects said the Egyptian ernment regularly ni reports of human rights ab as pletely fabrited. To the world, you’ve been greatly cel, but I five, ” Hegazy wrote the note, which was published part The New York attend a memorial for Sarah Hegazy Amsterdam on June 19, Arroyo Fernanz / NurPhoto via Getty ImagKhalid said queer Egyptians worldwi share a sense of shock and trma around her story, knowg n happen to themselv and their said supporters of LGBTQ rights — whether private dividuals or ernment officials — have a role to play protectg lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer people enurag the ternatnal muny to support, promote and empower Egyptian LGBTQ anizatns by helpg to provi fundg and secure platforms where they n nnect and anize.

For example, rearch on the issue of fay acceptance of LGBTQ youth nducted at San Francis State Universy found that "pared wh LGBTQ young people who were not rejected or were only a ltle rejected by their parents and regivers bee of their gay or transgenr inty, highly rejected LGBTQ young people were:. Servic that purport to "cure" people wh non-heterosexual sexual orientatn lack medil jtifitn and reprent a ser threat to the health and well-beg of affected people, the Pan Amerin Health Organizatn (PAHO) said a posn statement lnched on 17 May, 2012, the Internatnal Day agast Homophobia. The Amerin Amy of Pediatrics, the Amerin Counselg Associatn, the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn, the Amerin Psychologil Associatn, the Natnal Associatn of School Psychologists, and the Natnal Associatn of Social Workers, together reprentg more than 477, 000 health and mental health profsnals, have all taken the posn that homosexualy is not a mental disorr and th there is no need for a 'cure.

EGYPTIAN OFFICIALS SYSTEMILLY ABE AND TORTURE GAYS, RIGHTS GROUP SAYS

The majory opn held that “[s]ex plays a necsary and undisguisable role the cisn, exactly what Tle VII forbids, ” adverse actns taken agast an dividual bee the dividual is gay or transgenr and that “ is impossible to discrimate agast a person for beg homosexual or transgenr whout discrimatg agast that dividual based on sex. Although acknowledgg that “homosexualy and transgenr stat are distct ncepts om sex, ” the majory opn dispensed wh each of the employer’s arguments, holdg strong to the prciple that is impossible to discrimate agast an dividual for beg homosexual or transgenr whout discrimatg agast an dividual based on sex.

Lastly, the Court addrsed the employers’ ced nsequenc of holdg that Tle VII’s prohibn of discrimatn based on sex appli to gay and transgenr dividuals—namely sgle-sex bathrooms and locker rooms, the unstaabily of drs s, and the issu prented by this applitn of Tle VII on an dividual’s relig nvictns. 44 percent of lbians and 61 percent of bisexual women experience rape, physil vlence, or stalkg by an timate partner, pared to 35 percent of straight women26 percent of gay men and 37 percent of bisexual men experience rape, physil vlence, or stalkg by an timate partner, pared to 29 percent of straight men46 percent of bisexual women have been raped, pared to 17 percent of straight women and 13 percent of lbians22 percent of bisexual women have been raped by an timate partner, pared to 9 percent of straight women40 percent of gay men and 47 percent of bisexual men have experienced sexual vlence other than rape, pared to 21 percent of straight men.

IN LANDMARK DECISN, SUPREME COURT RUL THAT TLE VII PROHIBS EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMATN OF GAY AND TRANSGENR INDIVIDUALS