Florida ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill: LGBTQ+ parents fear impacts on children

Contents:

• FOC ON ‘PARENTAL RIGHTS’ CHIPS AWAY AT GAY RIGHTS
• 'WHAT PARENTS ARE THEY SUPPORTG?': MOMS SPEAK OUT AGAST 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW
• LGBTQ+ PARENTS FEAR THE IMPACTS OF FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL

FOC ON ‘PARENTAL RIGHTS’ CHIPS AWAY AT GAY RIGHTS

More than half of LGBTQ parents Florida are nsirg movg their fai to another state over ncerns that a new Florida tn law – known to s crics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law – stigmatiz LGBTQ inti and creat a hostile learng environment for LGBTQ children or stunts wh LGBTQ fay members.

LGBTQ parents surveyed by the group voiced a variety of ncerns about the “Don’t Say Gay” law’s expected impact on their children, cludg that would rtrict them om speakg eely about their fai, negatively impact their sense of legimacy and enurage a hostile school climate. “The Don’t Say Gay bill claims to be for parent rights, but my rights have been taken away sce s passage, ” one rponnt said. For some LGBTQ parents, the passage of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law has motivated them to engage more directly muny activism; nearly 20 percent said they participated a monstratn to prott the legislatn over the past 6 months.

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

State Senator broke down tears discsg Florida bill and g out as gay. Crics have labeled the “Don’t Say Gay” law and warned will negatively impact LGBTQ stunts.

There were no gay parents, angry that the state and schools now view their relatnships differently. Incln at school is not the only place where gay and transgenr rights are unr scty. Ron DeSantis signed the ntroversial "Parental Rights Edutn" bill to law this week as expected, but some opponents of the legislatn say they were taken aback by the move to sign so effect July 1, HB 1557 -- dubbed by crics as the "Don't Say Gay" bill -- bans classroom stctn on sexual orientatn or genr inty for stunts krgarten through third gra or " a manner that is not age-appropriate or velopmentally appropriate for stunts acrdance wh state standards, " acrdg to the text of the bill.

“Governor Ron DeSantis signed the ‘Don't Say Gay’ bill the most wardly way possible today, ” Joe Snrs, the senr polil director of Equaly Florida, said durg a prs nference held after the signg. "My parents were nservative and were not acceptg of the LGBTQ muny or of you know, gay people general, ” she said. “I had to look at ncer and thk that I was gonna die to fally fd the strength to tell my mom and dad that I'm gay.

LGBTQ+ PARENTS FEAR THE IMPACTS OF FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL

The advisory lists many of the velopments that have ma Florida ls safe beyond the var anti-LGBTQ+ laws that have been enacted, such as laws rtrictg abortn rights and reproductive tn, and the elimatn of Ain-Amerin studi, as well as an crease of homophobic and racial harassment and vlence. In orr to get hard data on how DeSantis’ culture war is impactg LGBTQ+ fai Florida, rearchers at UCLA’s Whe Instute nducted a survey to measure the rponse of LGBTQ+ fai to the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The report was released last January, and don’t reflect rponse to the latt round of anti-LGBTQ+ laws to e out of Tallahassee — cludg expandg the “Don’t Say Gay” bill to ver all school gras K-12.

Acrdg to the survey, “9 out of 10 (88%) LGBTQ parents are very or somewhat ncerned about the impact that HB 1557 [the “Don’t Say Gay” bill] will have on them and their children, wh one four reportg they have experienced anti-LGBTQ+ harassment sce the law was passed and one five reportg beg ls out their muni sce the law was passed. Her fay is one of thoands Florida potentially impacted by the Parental Rights Edutn Act, nicknamed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by LGBTQ+ advot.

“In the 1970s and 1980s, lead to the passage of laws Florida banng gay people om adoptg their own children, children they were already raisg … We n’t take lightly when the ernor’s office impli we’re pedophil.