‘It’s had a chillg effect’: Florida teachers anx about ‘don’t say gay’ bill | Florida | The Guardian

Contents:

• WHAT IS THE ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL AND WHAT DID DISNEY SAY ABOUT ?
• FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW MAY SOUND VAGUE – BUT S PURPOSE IS CLEAR
• WHAT DO ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ ACTUALLY SAY?
• HERE'S WHAT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL WOULD DO AND WHAT WOULDN'T DO
• DISNEY UGHT CROSSFIRE OF 'DON'T SAY GAY' ROW
• AFTER 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL PASSED, ANTI-LGBTQ 'GROOMG' RHETORIC SURGED 400% ONLE
• AFTER YEARS OF PROGRS ON GAY RIGHTS, HOW DID THE US BEE SO ANTI-LGBTQ+?
• WHAT'S THE SO-LLED DON'T SAY GAY BILL THAT ULD IMPACT THE WHOLE UNTRY
• ‘IT’S HAD A CHILLG EFFECT’: FLORIDA TEACHERS ANX ABOUT ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL

WHAT IS THE ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL AND WHAT DID DISNEY SAY ABOUT ?

The parental rights tn bill, labelled the “don’t say gay” bill by crics, would also prevent teachers and school unsellors om givg support to LGBTQ+ stunts, whout first gettg permissn om their parents. This bill has strong echo of sectn 28, the 1988 law that prevented lol thori the UK om promotg homosexualy. As state schools were at the time led by lol thori, sectn 28 prevented schools om teachg the acceptabily of homosexualy as a “pretend fay relatnship”.

FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW MAY SOUND VAGUE – BUT S PURPOSE IS CLEAR

Teachers believed they would lose their jobs if they gave advice and support to LGBTQ+ stunts, or challenged homophobic language and bullyg. The Conservativ portrayed the opposn Labour party as pro-gay, and school teachers, who tradnally voted Labour, as a danger to children. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signalled support for the ‘don’t say gay’ bill.

I thought I was the only person who was gay at my school.

Florida should look to the UK before passg “don’t say gay”. Chief executive Bob Chapek has mted to supportg LGBTQ+ employe at Disney but refed to make a public statement about the ntroversial ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill. What is the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill?

WHAT DO ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ ACTUALLY SAY?

The Parental Rights In Edutn Bill, dubbed by crics as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, is legislatn that: “Prohibs classroom discsn about sexual orientatn or genr inty certa gra levels. Disney chief Chapek rponds to the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ billAs reported by CNN, Disney chief executive Bob Chapek spoke about the ntroversial bill an email to staff but has refed to release a public statement nmng the legislatn.

Actor’s mic reer explored Bridgg the Gap | Trailer | Disney+ YouTubeOpposn to ‘Don’t Say Gay’ billFlorida ernor Ron DeSantis has said he supports the bill. Sign up for the Week Patriarchy, a newsletter​ on femism and sexism sent every SaturdayFlorida’s ‘don’t say gay’ law officially go to effectRabows are no longer wele the Sunshe state. On Friday, Florida’s Parental Rights Edutn measure, more monly known as the “don’t say gay” law, officially took effect.

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

Like Texas’s abortn bounty law, the don’t say gay bill giv parents the power to levy lawsus agast teachers or schools they believe ntravene the liberately broad law. So there you go: the party that profs to love ee speech and small ernment has phed through a law that means a rabow sticker uld end a teacher’s you n’t say gay Florida schools any more, teachers n pray as much they like.

And that state of affairs is gog to spread beyond Florida very quickly; expect a lot more don’t say gay Bills to start poppg up around the US. Today, we have an analysis of a piece of tn legislatn Florida that crics have referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” we have news of our own: We’re makg some chang to the Edutn Briefg. See below for Asenc-Rhe/Tampa Bay Tim, via Associated PrsA close read of ‘Don’t Say Gay’Gov.

DISNEY UGHT CROSSFIRE OF 'DON'T SAY GAY' ROW

Ron DeSantis of Florida is expected to sign Hoe Bill 1557, a proposed law that supporters ll the “Parental Rights Edutn” bill and opponents refer to as the “Don’t Say Gay” lleague Dana Goldste has done a close readg of the bill self, which is about much more than gay rights. 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. 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.

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. 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.

AFTER 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL PASSED, ANTI-LGBTQ 'GROOMG' RHETORIC SURGED 400% ONLE

“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. Early last month, the state of Florida passed legislatn rtrictg teachg about sexual orientatn and genr inty s schools, labelled 'Don't Say Gay' by Chapek, Disney's chief executive, cid ially to keep his head this angered the LGBT muny which argued that, as Disney is Florida's biggt sgle taxpayer and one of s biggt private sector employers, uld have spoken out.

The area, the Reedy Creek Improvement District, is effectively n by Disney wh ltle terference om the state of Florida and e om certa tax and is allowed to put up new buildgs and extend s four theme parks and two water parks on the land whout beg erned by state regulatns - and uld even, if were so md, build a nuclear power plant district, hailed for the efficiency wh which has n, dat back to Disney's arrival Florida 1967 and the sire of the pany's founr, Walt Disney, to operate wh more eedom than had been able to long after Disney's ath, December 1966, a al was stck to create the new the legislatn passed by Florida, any special district created before 1968 and not renewed sce then would be dissolved June next year, although Disney uld seek to re-tablish perceptn is that Disney is beg punished by Florida for takg a stand agast the 'Don't Say Gay' laws.

Anti-LGBTQ hate surged onle followg the passage of a Florida law that lims classroom stctn on sexual orientatn and genr inty, a new report particular surge volv rhetoric implyg that lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer people are “groomg” children and clus such slurs as “groomer, ” “pedophile” and “predator” relatn to the LGBTQ muny.

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

The month after the Florida Senate passed the Parental Rights Edutn bill, or what crics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, on March 8, tweets mentng the LGBTQ muny alongsi the slurs creased 406%, acrdg to the report, which was nducted by the LGBTQ advocy group Human Rights Campaign and the nonprof Center for Counterg Digal law, which took effect July 1, bans stctn about sexual orientatn and genr inty “ krgarten through gra 3 or a manner that is not age appropriate or velopmentally appropriate for stunts acrdance wh state standards. In April, a gay uple said a man on an Amtrak tra lled them “rapists” and “pedophil” ont of their children.

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

In 2019, the Atlantic ran an opn piece tled “The stggle for gay rights is over”. The mise of the homophobic Defense of Marriage Act 2013 was followed by the end of the feral ban on marriage equaly 2015. Wispread acceptance of same-sex marriage rights, gay people servg the ary and the need for protectns for LGBTQ+ people followed.

As recently as 2020, the urt, then wh two Tmp appote, led that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protected gay, lbian and transgenr workers. In 1985, 89% of parents said they would be sad if they disvered their child was gay or a lbian.

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. Supporters of Florida’s ‘don’t say gay’ bill gather outsi Walt Disney World this month. The ernor and his supporters have labeled as a “groomer” anyone who believ children n learn LGBTQ+ people exist, argug that simply by talkg about gay relatnships to a child, you are sexualizg that child.

‘IT’S HAD A CHILLG EFFECT’: FLORIDA TEACHERS ANX ABOUT ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL

”To be gay, their view, is to be herently sexualized, a threat to nocence a way that straight Amerins are vehemence has ught even veteran LGBTQ+ advot by surprise. 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 Republin US reprentative Marjorie Taylor Greene vowed to troduce a feral “don’t say gay” bill if Republins w the Hoe this November, only to one-up herself days later by tweetg that for people to be pro-trans is to be pro-pedophilia. ”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. ”The “don’t say gay” bill, Mter not, is very siar to what’s been passed Rsia, tetherg Amerin nservativ to their thorarian unterparts who have succsfully rolled back mocratic norms across eastern Europe.

“I’ve seen this movie before over the last 30 years: The right wg cid to target the LGBTQ muny, whether ’s around marriage or adoptn or trans kids playg sports or bathrooms, ” says the California state senator Stt Wiener, who is gay. “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.