Florida Passed The Don’t Say Gay Bill. Here's What It Means | Time

Contents:

• FLORIDA JT PASSED THE "DON'T SAY GAY" BILL. HERE’S WHAT IT MEANS FOR KIDS
• IN SOME STAT, VERSNS OF ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILLS HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR AWHILE
• ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL: WHAT DO MEAN?
• 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

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

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.

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.

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

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 A year ago, “Don’t Say Gay” laws that had passed the 1980s were nsired archaic, LGBTQ+ advot said, wh many of them repealed over the years.

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.

‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL: WHAT DO MEAN?

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

WHAT DO ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ ACTUALLY SAY?

“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. Five stat repealed their “Don’t Say Gay” bills between 2006 and 2021, when Alabama rcd s law.

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

Advot say part of that surprise is that “Don’t Say Gay” statut have been revived after two s. 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. Advot say that the current ph for “Don’t Say Gay” bills is polil.