‘Don’t Say Gay’ law brgs worry, nfn to Florida schools | PBS NewsHour

Contents:

• AS FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW TAK EFFECT, SCHOOLS ROLL OUT LGBTQ RTRICTNS
• LGBTQ+ TEACHERS TOLD TO HI WHO THEY ARE AS DON’T SAY GAY GO TO EFFECT
• FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW TAK EFFECT TODAY. ITS IMPACT IS ALREADY BEG FELT
• ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW BRGS WORRY, NFN TO FLORIDA SCHOOLS
• FLORIDA SCHOOL BOARDS, CLUDG ORANGE COUNTY, SUED OVER ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW

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

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. 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.

LGBTQ+ TEACHERS TOLD TO HI WHO THEY ARE AS DON’T SAY GAY GO TO EFFECT

“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.

FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW TAK EFFECT TODAY. ITS IMPACT IS ALREADY BEG FELT

”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. LGBTQ+ school staff Florida have been told to hi pictur of their same genr spoe and not wear rabows as ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law go to effect. LGBTQ+ teachers Florida said they’ve been told they mt hi their inti while at work so as not to vlate the state’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law.

Durg the meetg, OSPC attorneys advised prcipals across the school district on what would and wouldn’t be legal unr Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, which is slated to take effect Friday (1 July). Another OCPS official said a separate nversatn that the district need to be ut the wake of the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law gog to effect until the state provid more clary on how the legislatn would be enforced.

Florida ernor Ron DeSantis signed the state’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ legislatn to law March. Robert Thollanr left the school after 11 years of workg Florida as a teacher and said the cint ma him feel like he “wasn’t tsted bee there’s somethg wrong” wh him for beg gay.

‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW BRGS WORRY, NFN TO FLORIDA SCHOOLS

“It mak seem like beg gay is somethg vile or disturbg or disgtg when ’s scribed as makg children unfortable knowg that I’m married to a man, ” Thollanr said.

FLORIDA SCHOOL BOARDS, CLUDG ORANGE COUNTY, SUED OVER ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW

Nilette Solomon, a teacher Miami-Da County, told the outlet that the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law would “erase” her as an “LGBTQ” teacher”.