Ron DeSantis signs the so-lled 'Don't Say Gay' bill : NPR

Contents:

• AS FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW TAK EFFECT, SCHOOLS ROLL OUT LGBTQ RTRICTNS
• HERE'S WHAT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL WOULD DO AND WHAT WOULDN'T DO
• DESANTIS-BACKED 'DONT SAY GAY' BILL SPARKS OUTRAGE
• ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL: FLORIDA SENATE PASS NTROVERSIAL LGBTQ SCHOOL MEASURE
• WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT FLORIDA'S NEW 'DON'T SAY GAY' RULE THAT BANS DISCSN OF GENR FOR ALL STUNTS
• FLORIDA STUNTS STAGE SCHOOL WALKOUTS OVER 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL
• FLORIDA CHRISTIAN SCHOOL SAYS WILL REFER TO STUNTS ONLY BY 'BLOGIL GENR,' ASKS GAY AND TRANSGENR STUNTS TO LEAVE
• FLORIDA ADVANC "DON'T SAY GAY" BILL THAT WOULD BAR LGBTQ DISCSNS SCHOOLS
• FLORIDA ERNOR SIGNS NTROVERSIAL 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL TO LAW
• FLORIDA'S ERNOR SIGNS NTROVERSIAL LAW OPPONENTS DUBBED 'DON'T SAY GAY'
• AMENDMENT TO ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL FLORIDA REQUIR SCHOOLS TO OUT STUNTS TO THEIR PARENTS WH SIX WEEKS

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.

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

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. “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.

DESANTIS-BACKED 'DONT SAY GAY' BILL SPARKS OUTRAGE

”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. March 28 (Rters) - Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a Republin-backed bill that bans classroom stctn on sexual orientatn and genr inty for many young stunts, drawg swift cricism om pani, Democrats and advocy legislatn, referred to by s opponents as the "don't say gay" bill, has stirred natnal ntroversy and got attentn durg Sunday's Osrs telest amid an creasgly partisan bate over what schools should teach children about race and genr.

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. “The ‘Don’t Say Gay’ moniker is a moniker about a certa polil amg of this suatn.

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

”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. 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. 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.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT FLORIDA'S NEW 'DON'T SAY GAY' RULE THAT BANS DISCSN OF GENR FOR ALL STUNTS

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. ”“I ask that you open up your hearts jt a tad b, ” he said, notg the name-llg and shunng he had faced as a gay man.

Florida's Parental Rights Edutn Act, cricized as the "Don't Say Gay" law, took effect July 1. "'There is no mer, for example, to the suggtn that the statute rtricts gay and transgenr teachers om 'put[tg] a fay photo on their sk' or 'refer[rg] to themselv and their spoe (and their own children), '" the memo says, referencg guidance issued by the state a motn to dismiss filed a lawsu seekg to validate the law.

Crics have dubbed the act the "Don't Say Gay" law. “They’re jt ntug the fear mongerg om ssn, ” says Jon Harris Mrer, public policy director for Equaly Florida, scribg 2023 legislative chang that fall squarely to the more-of-the-same-homophobic-nonsense tegory. DeSantis support of anti-gay vio lled bad strategy, worse msage.

FLORIDA STUNTS STAGE SCHOOL WALKOUTS OVER 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL

A provisn that would extend the famo “Don’t Say Gay” provisns to middle schools.

Florida needs more public officials to fd the urage to stand up to Florida’s self-signated emperor and say “Governor, for someone so foced on ‘Don’t Say Gay, ’ you sure seem to brg up a lot. ”Will Larks, a graduate of Wter Park High School who ran the gay-straight alliance there, said the board told him the policy on extracurriculars means stunts would have to get permissn to attend GSA meetgs, somethg that would endanger closeted stunts. “We had several stunts who were livg homels at 16, 17 years old bee their parents kicked them out of their hoe for beg gay, for beg trans, ” Larks said at the meetg, acrdg to Florida Today.

FLORIDA CHRISTIAN SCHOOL SAYS WILL REFER TO STUNTS ONLY BY 'BLOGIL GENR,' ASKS GAY AND TRANSGENR STUNTS TO LEAVE

”Pictured: Florida Edutn Commissner Manny Diaz Your Se ArticlFlorida Lawmakers OK Anti-Trans Bathroom Bill, 'Don't Say Gay' Expansn ›Fla.

Florida’s Board of Edutn approved an expansn of the state’s so-lled ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, which will bar teachers om talkg about sexual orientatn and genr for all public school stunts.

“The cisn by the Florida Board of Edutn to extend curriculum bans through twelfth gra is disgraceful — and will rult tastrophic nsequenc for Florida stunts and supportive tors, ” wrote Melanie Willgham-Jaggers, executive director of Gay, Lbian, and Straight Edutn Network, a nonprof found by tors to create affirmg spac for queer youth, an email statement. The expansn of ‘Don’t Say Gay’ laws Florida legislators have also been nsirg a number of bills wh siar provisns to the Parental Rights Edutn law that seek to prohib stctn on sexual orientatn or genr inty until eighth gra.

FLORIDA ADVANC "DON'T SAY GAY" BILL THAT WOULD BAR LGBTQ DISCSNS SCHOOLS

The set of three bills beg nsired— Hoe Bill 1223, 1069 and Senate Bill 1320— would expand Don’t Say Gay laws. It also arriv at a tensn pot between Disney, who publicly nounced Don’t Say Gay, and the ernor. Stunts across Florida staged school walkouts rponse to legislatn — dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill — that would prohib discsg sexual orientatn and genr inty the state’s primary schools.

FLORIDA ERNOR SIGNS NTROVERSIAL 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL TO LAW

Stunts wavg rabow picket signs and shoutg “We say gay! "I believe this attempt to threaten me and remove me om mp is riddled wh homophobia and bigotry, " said Petocz, who is gay.

"You’re silencg a queer stunt standg up for what he believ , his rights, and you’re disciplg him for challengg you on the allowance of pri flags a gay rally? Hillsborough High School stunts prott the "Don't Say Gay" bill Thursday Tampa, Fla.

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

The measure’s opponents ntend that the bill would be trimental to the mental health of the state’s LGBTQ children and teachers, preventg them om openly talkg about themselv and their Joe Hardg, the Republin who troduced the bill January, has repeatedly said 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 Orlando. "So I feel like should be tght schools bee will help other people jt like me know that 's OK to be gay.

Petersburg, Gibbs High School, is draped wh rabow flags, Gay Straight Alliance club posters "everywhere" and other LGBTQ-affirmg symbols. A relig school Florida says will only refer to stunts by their sex assigned at birth, while pupils who are gay, transgenr or genr nonnformg "will be asked to leave the school immediately. "It ntued: "We believe that any form of homosexualy, lbianism, bisexualy, transgenr inty/liftyle, self-intifitn, btialy, ct, fornitn, adultery and pornography are sful the sight of God and the church (Genis 2:24; Levic 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; I Corthians 5:1; I Corthians 6:9; I Thsalonians 4:2-7).

He then nfirmed a school policy do not allow stunts to be homosexual or transgenr and that an email was sent to parents on June 6 remdg them of the policy.

AMENDMENT TO ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL FLORIDA REQUIR SCHOOLS TO OUT STUNTS TO THEIR PARENTS WH SIX WEEKS

And be transgenr or homosexual.

"The email was a factor promptg the fay of a 16-year-old girl, who is gay and was a stunt at the school, to transfer her to another relig school that is more acceptg. " The man asked that his inty be whheld to protect his fay om 18-year-old woman who graduated om the school last year and is gay said there were tim when anti-LGBTQ msag were exprsed durg chapel hours on school days. She said one day, McKeen "started yellg about how if you're gay you're gog to hell.