6 reasons why “don’t say gay” bills are wrong.
Contents:
- AS FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW TAK EFFECT, SCHOOLS ROLL OUT LGBTQ RTRICTNS
- COMG OUT AS GAY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- THE BT GAY-FRIENDLY SCHOOLS
- FLORIDA'S ERNOR SIGNS NTROVERSIAL LAW OPPONENTS DUBBED 'DON'T SAY GAY'
- GAY UNSELOR'S FIRG BY INDIANAPOLIS CATHOLIC SCHOOL PERMTED BY FERAL APPEALS URT
AS FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW TAK EFFECT, SCHOOLS ROLL OUT LGBTQ RTRICTNS
Edutn news, analysis, and opn about lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr or queer stunts or teachers and their experienc school. * gay in school *
”Many LGBTQ stunts report that a support system or an ally—whether a fay member, iend, teacher or guidance unselor—is often valuable helpg them navigate their school, pecially given the negative impacts LGBTQ stunts n fact, the Gay, Lbian and Straight Edutn Network (GLSEN) reports their 2017 Natnal School Climate Survey that negative school environments where stunts experience victimizatn and discrimatn bee of their genr or sexualy n adversely affect them.
COMG OUT AS GAY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
* gay in school *
”El also noted that, while they live Massachetts and their school’s curriculum is not affected by "no promo homo" laws, which prohib teachers om discsg LGBTQ issu, the state's specifilly clive curriculum n vary between teacher to teacher, and those who tght ma them feel validated.
Florida recently (March 28, 2022) passed the famo “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which prohibs stctn about gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr, and queer (GLBTQ) people until the fourth gra and other stat are followg su.
Here are six reasons why “don’t say gay” bills are wrong and why we need LGBTQ-clive tn at all gra levels. This n also protect them om later engagg dangero behavrs that rult om homophobia cludg dg and alhol abe, skippg school, and self-harm.
THE BT GAY-FRIENDLY SCHOOLS
The Florida Don't Say Gay law shows the opposg velopments ncerng LGBTQ tn U.S. schools. While some stat have been tablishg legal foundatns for LGBTQ curriculums recently, Florida is gog the oppose directn and more stat are expected to follow s example. * gay in school *
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.
FLORIDA'S ERNOR SIGNS NTROVERSIAL LAW OPPONENTS DUBBED 'DON'T SAY GAY'
High school n be an excg but a strsful time. As you are gettg to know about yourself, you may have realized that you are gay, pansexual, or bisexual. Datg high school n be hard, and fdg someone to love while you are... * gay in school *
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. ”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. Stunts at a high school near Jacksonville, Florida, were acced several weeks ago of harassg classmat a Gay Straight Alliance club and stompg on pri flags.
GAY UNSELOR'S FIRG BY INDIANAPOLIS CATHOLIC SCHOOL PERMTED BY FERAL APPEALS URT
“For me, when a teacher put up that sticker, basilly nveyed the msage that ‘when you e here, you will not be hated for who you love or what you intify as, ’” said Frsto, who is gay.
Frsto, who is the print of his school’s Gay Straight Alliance, or GSA, said the rabow stickers were removed overnight whout warng. “As a gay man wh no children and no real sire to have children, I feel like I should never know the nam of the people on the school board, let alone have to stand up agast them, ” said Zachary Goff of Newberg, who lnched the petn, which has gotten over 1, 000 signatur.