What Is Florida's Don't Say Gay Bill and Its Impact on Kids? | Time

Contents:

• WHAT'S THE SO-LLED DON'T SAY GAY BILL THAT ULD IMPACT THE WHOLE UNTRY
• HERE'S WHAT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL WOULD DO AND WHAT WOULDN'T DO
• NOT JT FLORIDA. MORE THAN A DOZEN STAT PROPOSE SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILLS
• FLORIDA'S ERNOR SIGNS NTROVERSIAL LAW OPPONENTS DUBBED 'DON'T SAY GAY'
• FLORIDA JT PASSED THE "DON'T SAY GAY" BILL. HERE’S WHAT IT MEANS FOR KIDS
• OPPONENTS CALL IT THE ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL. HERE’S WHAT IT SAYS.
• WHAT THE BILL DUBBED ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BY CRICS ACTUALLY SAYS
• FLORIDA LAWMAKERS PASS 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL
• FLORIDA'S NTROVERSIAL 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL: WHAT'S SI THE PROPOSED LAW
• FLORIDA HOE PASS NTROVERSIAL 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL
• DESANTIS-BACKED 'DONT SAY GAY' BILL SPARKS OUTRAGE
• HOE PASS SWEEPG GAY AND TRANSGENR EQUALY LEGISLATN
• IN SOME STAT, VERSNS OF ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILLS HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR AWHILE
• ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL: FLORIDA SENATE PASS NTROVERSIAL LGBTQ SCHOOL MEASURE
• IT’S NOT JT FLORIDA. 15 OTHER ‘DON’T SAY GAY’-STYLE BILLS ARE CROPPG UP NATNWI
• FLORIDA HOE PASS 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL
• WHAT FLORIDA'S "DON'T SAY GAY" BILL COULD MEAN FOR LGBTQ KIDS
• LOBBY GROUPS WANT KENYA-US TRA AL HALTED OVER ANTI-GAY BILL

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

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.

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

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. 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.

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

” 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. 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. ”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.

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. 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.

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

" 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. "Florida's HB 1557, also known as the 'Don't Say Gay' bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed to law, " the statement read. The Florida Senate passed the ntroversial so-lled “Don’t Say Gay” bill on Tuday, sendg the Republin-backed legislatn banng LGBTQ stctn primary schools to Gov.

FLORIDA JT PASSED THE "DON'T SAY GAY" BILL. HERE’S WHAT IT MEANS FOR KIDS

The proposed law, often referred to by crics as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, bans public school districts om teachg about sexual orientatn or genr inty krgarten through the third gra, or “ a manner that is not age-appropriate or velopmentally appropriate for stunts”—language that crics say uld extend the ban to higher gra levels.

” Read more: Kid of the Year Falist Kai Shappley, 11, Tak on Lawmakers Her Fight for Trans Rights What impact uld the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill have? Shevr Jon, Florida’s first openly gay Florida state senator, who told the legislative body: “To those who thk you n legislate gay people away, I’m sorry. Ron DeSantis of Florida is expected to sign Hoe Bill 1557, which supporters ll the “Parental Rights Edutn” bill, but that opponents refer to as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

” Meanwhile, many nservativ have argued that the bill is limed spe and has been misterpreted by s of that has obscured the text of the bill self, which is plex — if at tim vague — and is about much more than gay rights.

OPPONENTS CALL IT THE ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL. HERE’S WHAT IT SAYS.

Instctn on genr and sexualy would be nstraed all 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 is the sentence that has earned the bill the “Don’t Say Gay” language is vague and subject to terpretatn.

No “classroom discsn” is a broad phrase, and uld mean that teachers wh a stunt wh gay parents should not talk about those fai wh the entire class.

” More about Dana GoldsteA versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 13 of the New York edn wh the headle: Crics Call It the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill. In their qut to bee the party of “parental rights, ” Republins Florida and other stat are attemptg to muzzle discsn of gay and civil rights school. Ron DeSantis signed – tled “Parental Rights Edutn” – has been dubbed by crics the “Don’t Say Gay” bill bee seeks to ban discsn of genr and sexualy issu wh younger stunts.

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

Earlier this month, DeSantis grew agated at the Florida Strawberry Ftival when a reporter asked him about the phrase – “Don’t Say Gay” – that crics have applied to the bill.

State laws that ban or nstra the discsn of LGBT life classrooms - sometim lled "no promo homo" laws by crics - are not unmon. Meanwhile, bate ntu on this legislatn and what would mean for schools, teachers, stunts and bill n be read full do the 'Don't Say Gay' legislatn exactly say?

FLORIDA LAWMAKERS PASS 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL

Defg those terms, cludg "heterosexualy, homosexualy or bisexualy" and "genr-related inty, appearance or behavr, " uld clear up what the bill would ban, she said. Florida Hoe Republins advanced a bill, dubbed by opponents as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, to forbid discsns of sexual orientatn and genr inty schools. Danny Burgs also later add that the standard unrstandg of the terms is what the law would activists ll "Don't Say Gay"?

However, the bill's nickname om activists has bee "Don't Say Gay" and "Don't Say Trans" bee advot have said they believe would make LGBTQ people taboo once aga classrooms, settg back the progrs ma by the LGBTQ muny the last few advocy anizatns say the bills are remiscent of the "no promo homo" laws of the 1990s that barred tors om discsg LGBTQ topics school classrooms. The march was held to prott Florida's "Don't Say Gay" Wt/The News-Prs via USA Today NetworkAt least four stat still have such laws on the books, cludg Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma.

"One of the differenc between the bills and some of the 'no promo homo' laws that passed the 1990s is the heavy-hand mandate on parent and fay volvement, " Melanie Willgham-Jaggers, the executive director of LGBTQ advocy group GLSEN, told ABC add: "We've learned that the prence of even one supportive adult mak all the difference. Opposn Democrats and LGBTQ rights activists have lobbied agast the "Don't Say Gay" law, which will affect kids krgarten through third gra. Febary 24, 2022, 3:39 PMThe Parental Rights Edutn bill, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill by LGBTQ activists, has been passed by the Florida Hoe of Reprentativ.

FLORIDA'S NTROVERSIAL 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL: WHAT'S SI THE PROPOSED LAW

A Florida bill that would lim classroom discsns on sexual orientatn and genr inty and enurage parents to sue schools or teachers that engage the topics ntu to move through the state Hoe and 's beg lled a "Don't Say Gay" bill by LGBTQ advot, who fear that if this bill is signed to law, uld act as a plete ban on the lsons on LGBTQ opprsn, history and discsns about LGBTQ amendment to the bill was proposed Friday that also would require school officials to disclose a stunt's sexual or genr inty to their parents wh six weeks of fdg out about the stunt's inty.

Ron DeSantis and the state legislature for the efforts last month a Twter advocy anizatns say the bills are remiscent of the “no promo homo” laws of the 1990s that barred tors om discsg queer topics schools, but wh an add mandate on parent and fay volvement. It was the send time the Democratic-led Hoe had passed the measure, known as the Equaly Act, which seeks to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to add explic bans on discrimatn agast lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr people both public and private spac. People n be discrimated agast bee of who they are, or who they love, ” said Reprentative David Cicille, an openly gay Democrat om Rho Island and the lead sponsor.

Several Republins assailed the Equaly Act as dangero, leadg one top Democrat, Reprentative Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, to acce them of believg that gay and transgenr people “are morally ferr, and that firg should be permted.

FLORIDA HOE PASS NTROVERSIAL 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL

”In a landmark cisn June, the Supreme Court led that the 1964 civil rights law protects gay and transgenr people om workplace discrimatn, and that the language of the law, which prohibs discrimatn on the basis of sex, also appli to discrimatn based on sexual orientatn and genr inty.

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.

DESANTIS-BACKED 'DONT SAY GAY' BILL SPARKS OUTRAGE

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. 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. 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.

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.

HOE PASS SWEEPG GAY AND TRANSGENR EQUALY LEGISLATN

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. “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.

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

Vivian Toppg, director of advocy and civic engagement of the Equaly Feratn, a aln of state LGBTQ+ anizatns, said lol Florida anizers worked overtime to sound the alarms about their “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Ron DeSantis’ cisn to ph the “Don’t Say Gay” bill Florida is ls about kids and more about the Republin’s printial ambns. Ron DeSantis signed the state's "don't say gay" bill to law Monday, but the Sunshe State isn't alone the efforts -- 's actually part of a natnal other stat are nsirg legislatn that would ban or rtrict classroom (or unselg office) discsn of LGBTQ+ issu and inty or books and other tnal materials that have LGBTQ+ ntent.

The bills aren't surfacg only ral stat or the Deep South -- they've also e up such reliably blue stat as Illois, New Jersey, and Rho Island, although they have ltle chance of passg, The Advote looks at the history of "don't say gay" bills analyz the current state of the and other censorship attempts -- and the legislators behd them. Campfield is no longer office, but other Tennsee lawmakers are tryg there was "don't say gay, " there was "no promo homo" -- bills that proliferated the 1980s and '90s as nservative legislators rpond to the AIDS crisis by seekg to ban what they nsired "promotn of homosexualy" schools, pecially sex tn urs. A major difference between "no promo homo" bills and "don't say gay" bills is that the latter often have a "heavy-hand mandate on parent and fay volvement, " says Melanie Willgham-Jaggers, GLSEN's executive director.

‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL: FLORIDA SENATE PASS NTROVERSIAL LGBTQ SCHOOL MEASURE

"The mandat are harmful and risk relsly outg LGBTQ+ young people to fai who do not affirm their children's inti, " Willgham-Jaggers when "don't say gay" bills don't pass, the anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric that up the bat over them do harm, pots out Cathryn Oakley, state legislative director and senr unsel at the Human Rights Campaign.

She also not that the bills are more accurately scribed as "don't say gay or trans" bills, as they target transgenr people along wh everyone else unr the LGBTQ+ umbrella. Those who support "don't say gay or trans" bills across all stat are virtually all chief sponsor of Florida's bill is Sen.

"Chris Kaiser, advocy director for the Amerin Civil Liberti Unn's Louisiana affiliate, noted to the paper that the bill "seems to be part of a trend to file a lot of different typ of legislatn that is jt aimed at villaizg gay and transgenr people and basilly removg them om public life. "No public school district, public charter school, or public school library shall mata s ventory or e s curriculum books that make as their primary subject the study of lbian, gay, bisexual, or transgenr issu or recreatnal sexualizatn, " reads. Tennsee was one of the earlit stat to nsir "don't say gay" legislatn, but backers of such measur haven't managed to get them passed.

IT’S NOT JT FLORIDA. 15 OTHER ‘DON’T SAY GAY’-STYLE BILLS ARE CROPPG UP NATNWI

Hoe Bill 800 would ban the e of "textbooks and stctnal materials or supplemental stctnal materials that promote, normalize, support, or addrs lbian, gay, bisexual, or transgenr (LGBT) issu or liftyl. Conservative legislators some stat aren't proposg explicly "don't say gay" bills but stead want to give parents broad powers to object to books and other tnal materials they don't want their children seeg, potentially rultg censorship of LGBTQ+ ntent or anythg that als wh the history and effects of racism and sexism the U.

The Republin-domated Florida legislature passed a bill on Tuday which would forbid stctn on sexual orientatn and genr inty krgarten through third gra, rejectg a wave of cricism om Democrats that margaliz LGBTQ+ people.The proposal, which opponents have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, now mov to the sk of the Republin ernor, Ron DeSantis, who is expected to sign to law.Sce s ceptn, the measure has drawn tense opposn om LGBTQ+ advot, stunts, Democrats, the Whe Hoe and the entertament dtry, amid creased attentn on Florida as Republins ph culture war legislatn and DeSantis ascends the GOP as a potential printial ndidate.“What we really need to be dog is teachg tolerance, rg, lovg, anti-discrimatn, anti-bigotry. Dozens of stunts and advot flood mtee rooms durg the early stag of the bill procs and then packed the halls of the legislature as moved toward fal passage, often wh chants of “We say gay!”“We have failed as a legislature if hundreds of kids stand outsi screamg for their rights and you n’t expla to fifth-grars and sixth-grars and eighth-grars simple fns of your bill.

FLORIDA HOE PASS 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL

Rather than battle misrmatn related to the amendment, I cid to foc on the primary bill that empowers parents to be engaged their children’s liv,” Hardg said.DeSantis has chafed at llg the proposal the “Don’t Say Gay” bill bee he said would apply to stctn on any genr inty or sexual orientatn. The measure, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by s opponents, was passed by the state Hoe last month and now heads to Republin Gov. Parents n sue school districts for alleged a tearful addrs to the Senate on Monday, Democrat Shevr Jon, the first openly gay Florida state senator, urged his lleagu to narrow the bill’s language to say stctn should not be “tend to change a stunt’s sexual orientatn or genr inty.

Sce Florida’s Hoe mtee passed the Parental Rights Edutn bill — known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill — January, a natnal spotlight has turned on the state as propos banng school stctn on LGBTQ+ people and issu. A Hoe bill Tennsee would ban textbook and stctnal materials that “promote, normalize, support, or addrs lbian, gay, bisexual, or transgenr (LGBT) liftyl” K-12 schools.

WHAT FLORIDA'S "DON'T SAY GAY" BILL COULD MEAN FOR LGBTQ KIDS

Another, Kansas, seeks to amend the state’s obsceny law to make g classroom materials pictg “homosexualy” a Class B mismeanor. Two bills, SB 1142 and SB 1654, would prohib librarians and teachers om distributg materials on or outright discsg “any form of non-procreative sex, ” genr inty and “lbian, gay, bisexual, or transgenr issu. Still, advot worry that the passage of legislatn like “Don’t Say Gay” will e at the expense of LGBTQ+ youth particular, who are already at greater risk of mental health issu, self-harm and suici.

Florida's Hoe of Reprentativ passed a bill Thursday that would prohib "classroom discsn about sexual orientatn or genr inty" the state’s primary legislatn — tled the Parental Rights Edutn bill but dubbed by crics the "Don’t Say Gay" bill — heads to the state's Republin-held Senate, where is expected to pass.

" Hardg has repeatedly strsed 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 attack on the Pulse nightclub, a gay club crics have said the broad language of the legislatn uld open districts to lawsus om parents who believe any nversatn about LGBTQ people or issu to be an impassned speech on the Hoe floor Thursday, Rep.

LOBBY GROUPS WANT KENYA-US TRA AL HALTED OVER ANTI-GAY BILL

Carlos Guillermo Smh, a Democrat who is gay, told lawmakers that he purposefully wore a rabow Pri ribbon upsi down on his lapel "as a symbol that LGBTQ muny Florida is distrs. " In addn to the “Don’t Say Gay” bill Florida, 15 other bills are unr nsiratn eight stat that would lim speech about LGBTQ inti classrooms, acrdg to PEN Amerin, a nonprof group that advot for ee speech.

Three stat passed siar bills last year — monly referred to as "no promo homo" laws — that allow parents to opt stunts out of any lson or ursework that mentns sexual orientatn or genr inty, acrdg to GLSEN, an advocy group that aims to end LGBTQ discrimatn tn.

Print Joe Bin has prevly rebed Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill, vowg to "fight for the protectns and safety" of LGBTQ youths.