Fact-checkg 3 proment claims about Florida's ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill - Poynter

Contents:

• FACT-CHECKG 3 PROMENT CLAIMS ABOUT FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL
• NOT JT FLORIDA. MORE THAN A DOZEN STAT PROPOSE SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILLS
• AFTER 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL PASSED, ANTI-LGBTQ 'GROOMG' RHETORIC SURGED 400% ONLE
• WHAT'S THE SO-LLED DON'T SAY GAY BILL THAT ULD IMPACT THE WHOLE UNTRY
• IN SOME STAT, VERSNS OF ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILLS HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR AWHILE
• SO, WHAT EXACTLY IS THE 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW & HOW DO IT AFFECT YOU?
• WHAT THE BILL DUBBED ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BY CRICS ACTUALLY SAYS
• 'WHAT PARENTS ARE THEY SUPPORTG?': MOMS SPEAK OUT AGAST 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW
• HERE'S WHAT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL WOULD DO AND WHAT WOULDN'T DO

FACT-CHECKG 3 PROMENT CLAIMS ABOUT FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL

But crics nicknamed HB 1557 the “don’t say gay” bill, warng isn’t necsary and mak some stunts feel unsafe by sglg out LGBTQ material as dangero and appropriate.

Dennis Baxley (R-Ola) the bill’s Senate sponsor who said he was addrsg “social engeerg” that uld rult more children intifyg as gay or transgenr. ” The guidance clus fns of terms related to sexual orientatn and genr inty — cludg gay, lbian and transgenr — that teachers are enuraged to e when applible.

” The word ‘gay’ People on Facebook and Twter have said that Florida Republins want to ban the word “gay” school.

NOT JT FLORIDA. MORE THAN A DOZEN STAT PROPOSE SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILLS

“GOP’s 2022 platform: Ban books, Ban abortn, Ban Black history, Ban transgenr teens, Ban sayg ‘gay’ and Ban votg, ” said Dean Obeidallah, a left-leang rad host and edian, on March 11. ’” On SNL’s “Weekend Update” segment, anchor Col Jost told st member Kate McKnon, who is gay, that the bill “means that you n’t acknowledge that ‘gay’ exists at all. ” McKnon then slammed the legislatn, sayg, “I am eply gay — sorry, eply ncerned.

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

It jt seems like this is gog to make kids gay and trans — sorry, prsed and suicidal. ” The claims n largely be attributed to the legislatn’s “don’t say gay” nickname, ed by Equaly Florida. The legislatn do not lerally prohib Floridians om sayg the word “gay, ” but do prohib “classroom discsn about sexual orientatn or genr inty.

Across the Uned Stat, at least a dozen stat are nsirg new legislatn that several ways will mirror Florida's new ntroversial law, referred to by some opponents as "Don't Say Gay. "The stutnalizatn of the bills is an overt form of stctural transphobia and homophobia, and go agast all public health evince creatg a safe and supportive environment for transgenr, nonbary, queer, gay and lbian youths and teachers to thrive, " Arjee Rtar, assistant profsor of epimlogy at the Universy of Washgton, told NPR.

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

Rtar, a social epimlogist and health equy advote, said the ntroversial bills will lim all youths to live to their fullt potential, addg "there should be no room for transphobia and homophobia — pecially the classroom. " Tennsee's HB 800 bans books and stctnal materials "that promote, normalize, support, or addrs lbian, gay, bi-sexual, or transgenr issu or liftyle. Two years after Arizona lawmakers repealed a law barrg any stctn on HIV or AIDS that that "promot a homosexual liftyle, " they are close to enactg a broad remake of the state's sex tn laws wh a particular foc on LGBTQ issu.

"Florida may be the first this wave, but there have been other laws the past that were lled 'no promo homo' laws, which forbid sayg posive thgs about lbian, gay, bisexual, and queer people classrooms, " Simmons told NPR. New York Cy is lnchg a digal billboard mpaign, supportg LGBTQ visibily that will be displayed five major markets Florida for eight weeks, to lure Floridians unhappy wh their state's "Don't Say Gay" law to the Big Apple, Adams announced. 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.

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 SOME STAT, VERSNS OF ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILLS HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR AWHILE

In April, a gay uple said a man on an Amtrak tra lled them “rapists” and “pedophil” ont of their children. Demonstrators gather on the steps of the Florida Historic Capol Mm ont of the Florida State Capol March Tallahassee, Fla, prottg what opponents ll the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

Hoe Republins have troduced legislatn that some crics are scribg as a natnal "Don't Say Gay" bill – spired by the ntroversial Florida law that bans stctn on genr inty and sexual orientatn krgarten through third gra class. " Crics of the measure dubbed the Florida law "Don't Say Gay" and argue that s tent is to margalize LGBTQ people and their fai. A feral 'Don't Say Gay or Trans' bill...

Activist Er Reed, who tracks anti-transgenr legislatn, argu that the parison to a "Don't Say Gay" bill mimiz the potential effects of this proposed legislatn.

SO, WHAT EXACTLY IS THE 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW & HOW DO IT AFFECT YOU?

"Don't Say Gay/Trans was foced on 'classroom stctn' which was bad enough, " she wrote on Twter.

Kay Ivey signed to law Hoe Bill 322, lloquially dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, rtrictg public school teachers om discsg LGBTQ+ history or people public elementary schools. At least 20 stat have troduced “Don’t Say Gay” laws this year, which have ma wav around the untry.

READ MORE: Florida Legislature vot to strip Disney of self-ernment after opposn to ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill. Sce 1992, Alabama’s tn stipulated that teachers emphasize “ a factual manner and om a public health perspective, that homosexualy is not a liftyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual nduct is a crimal offense unr the laws of the state. A year ago, “Don’t Say Gay” laws that had passed the 1980s were nsired archaic, LGBTQ+ advot said, wh many of them repealed over the years.

WHAT THE BILL DUBBED ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BY CRICS ACTUALLY SAYS

Texas lawmakers have exprsed tert pursug a “Don’t Say Gay” bill like Florida’s and Alabama’s, even though the state has had a siar regulatn on the books sce 1991. In Texas, the state still stipulat that tnal materials for people unr the age of 18 “state that homosexual nduct is not an acceptable liftyle and is a crimal offense.

'WHAT PARENTS ARE THEY SUPPORTG?': MOMS SPEAK OUT AGAST 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW

Oklahoma passed the natn’s first bill banng teachers om talkg about homosexualy an AIDS sex ed measure April 1987, and Louisana followed su that July.

South Carola passed a “Don’t Say Gay” bill 1988.

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

In total, ne stat passed laws banng schools om teachg about “homosexualy” om 1987 to 2001, when Utah adopted s versn. For example, Louisiana still has a law on the books that stat, “No sex tn urse offered the public schools of the state shall utilize any sexually explic materials pictg male or female homosexual activy.

Mississippi sex ed law requir that teachers simply teach current state law related to sexual nduct and lists “homosexualy” alongsi sensive topics such as “forcible rape, statutory rape, paterny tablishment” and “child support. Casey said the bills are relics of the AIDS crisis, when panic about homosexualy dictated school curriculum. WATCH: How Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law regulat school lsons on genr, sexual orientatn.

“Once the HIV epimic me to the picture, then a bunch of stat started nsirg and enactg laws that banned stctn on sexualy and homosexualy public tn, channelg this ‘Save Our Children’ mpaign energy and the fear and prejudice durg the HIV epimic, ” Casey said.