How Florida’s ‘don’t say gay’ law uld harm children’s mental health | Florida | The Guardian

Contents:

• LAWSU FILED AGAST FLORIDA'S SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW WH DAYS OF SIGNG
• LGBTQ GROUPS SUE FLORIDA OVER SO-LLED ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW
• AS FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW TAK EFFECT, SCHOOLS ROLL OUT LGBTQ RTRICTNS
• LGBTQ GROUPS SUE FLORIDA OVER THE SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW
• SO, WHAT EXACTLY IS THE 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW & HOW DO IT AFFECT YOU?
• WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT FLORIDA'S NEW 'DON'T SAY GAY' RULE THAT BANS DISCSN OF GENR FOR ALL STUNTS
• WHAT DO ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ ACTUALLY SAY?
• FLORIDA JT PASSED THE "DON'T SAY GAY" BILL. HERE’S WHAT IT MEANS FOR KIDS
• HERE'S WHAT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL WOULD DO AND WHAT WOULDN'T DO
• HOW FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW ULD HARM CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH
• WHAT DO THE DON'T SAY GAY BILL MEAN? CONTROVERSIAL DESANTIS LAW EXPLAED
• FACT-CHECKG 3 PROMENT CLAIMS ABOUT FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL
• IN SOME STAT, VERSNS OF ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILLS HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR AWHILE
• AFTER 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL PASSED, ANTI-LGBTQ 'GROOMG' RHETORIC SURGED 400% ONLE
• NOT JT FLORIDA. MORE THAN A DOZEN STAT PROPOSE SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILLS

LAWSU FILED AGAST FLORIDA'S SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW WH DAYS OF SIGNG

A lawsu has been filed agast the State of Florida over the newly signed Parental Rights Edutn law, dubbed the "Don’t Say Gay" law by crics, jt three days after was signed.

LGBTQ GROUPS SUE FLORIDA OVER SO-LLED ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW

Ron DeSantis displays the signed Parental Rights Edutn, aka the Don't Say Gay bill, flanked by elementary school stunts durg a news nferencey, March 28, 2022, at Classil Preparatory school Shady Hills. "Members and supporters of the LGBTQ muny attend the "Say Gay Anyway" rally Miami Beach, Florida, March 13, 2022.

(AP) — Gay rights advot sued Florida Gov. Crics ll the “Don’t Say Gay” law and argue that s te tent is to margalize LGBTQ people and their fai.

WATCH: How Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law regulat school lsons on genr, sexual orientatn.

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. 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.

LGBTQ GROUPS SUE FLORIDA OVER THE SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW

”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. Ron DeSantis displays the signed Parental Rights Edutn, the so-lled "Don't Say Gay" bill, flanked by elementary school stunts durg a news nference on Monday at Classil Preparatory school Shady Hills, Fla. — Gay rights advot sued Florida Gov.

Crics ll the "Don't Say Gay" law and argue that s te tent is to margalize LGBTQ people and their fai. MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) - You may be wonrg why the Sunshe State has e unr tense natnal scty over legislatn that crics have dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" law. In that ve, they have labeled the measure the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

SO, WHAT EXACTLY IS THE 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW & HOW DO IT AFFECT YOU?

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.

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. Today, we have an analysis of a piece of tn legislatn Florida that crics have referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” we have news of our own: We’re makg some chang to the Edutn Briefg.

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

See below for Asenc-Rhe/Tampa Bay Tim, via Associated PrsA close read of ‘Don’t Say Gay’Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is expected to sign Hoe Bill 1557, a proposed law that supporters ll the “Parental Rights Edutn” bill and opponents refer to as the “Don’t Say Gay” lleague Dana Goldste has done a close readg of the bill self, which is about much more than gay rights.

Sentence has earned the bill the “Don’t Say Gay” nickname:L 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 impact is clear enough: Instctn on genr and sexualy would be nstraed all gras. That uld disurage a teacher om speakg about gay fai wh the whole class, even if some stunts have gay bill also targets mental health and unselg servic — a place where stunts often have difficult nversatns about genr inty and sexualy, pecially if they stggle to talk about those nversatns at as Florida revis s school unselg standards, adopted 2010, which affirm genr and sexual diversy unselg.

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?

WHAT DO ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ ACTUALLY SAY?

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.

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.

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

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.

”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. “I’m so grateful that [Stella] is somewhere that se” the fay “as what is: her moms jt love her”, said Kelsey Hanley, Stella’s birth mother, who liv Kissimmee, Hanley, 30, worri that children who have multiple moms or dads or are LGBTQ+ themselv won’t get the same acceptance ’s bee the state recently approved legislatn that bans classroom stctn on sexual orientatn or genr inty om krgarten through third gra and prohibs such lsons for olr stunts unls they are “age-appropriate or velopmentally appropriate” and some pediatric psychologists say the law stigmatiz beg gay or transgenr and uld harm the mental health of LGBTQ+ youth, who are already more likely to face bullyg and attempt suici than children who are cisgenr and straight.

”The Parental Rights Edutn legislatn, which opponents labeled the “don’t say gay” bill, is part of a flurry of measur troduced by Republin lawmakers around the untry. At schools that did have an LGBTQ+ clive curriculum, 59% of rponnts said they often or equently heard the word “gay” ed a negative way, pared wh almost 80% of stunts at schools that did not have clive curriculum. After weeks of public bate regardg the ntroversial legislatn nicknamed the "Don't Say Gay" bill, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the bill to law on bill, known formally as HB 1557, beme a topic of natnal attentn after was first filed January, as activists nmned the bill, statg would e harm to LGBTQ+ stunts school environments as stands agast the teachg of sexual orientatn for children schools between the ag of 5 to prott of the bill led public school and employee walkouts, and major lears of rporatns like Disney and celebri alike have publicly nounced the bate has flourished as others assert that HB 1557 giv parents the thory over their children's tn, statg that there is more to than what the "Don't Say Gay" bill impli.

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

Opponents began llg the "Don't Say Gay" bill due to the fact that the bill prohibs "classroom discsn about sexual orientatn or genr inty certa gra levels or a specified manner.

Wanda Syk, Rega Hall and Amy Schumer said they were gog to have a "gay" night, and repeated the word "gay" eight tim "for the people of Florida.

HOW FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW ULD HARM CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH

The ntroversial "Don't Say Gay" bill was signed to law by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday. But crics nicknamed HB 1557 the “don’t say gay” bill, warng isn’t necsary and mak some stunts feel unsafe by sglg out LGBTQ material as dangero and appropriate.

Dennis Baxley (R-Ola) the bill’s Senate sponsor who said he was addrsg “social engeerg” that uld rult more children intifyg as gay or transgenr. ” The guidance clus fns of terms related to sexual orientatn and genr inty — cludg gay, lbian and transgenr — that teachers are enuraged to e when applible.

” The word ‘gay’ People on Facebook and Twter have said that Florida Republins want to ban the word “gay” school.

WHAT DO THE DON'T SAY GAY BILL MEAN? CONTROVERSIAL DESANTIS LAW EXPLAED

“GOP’s 2022 platform: Ban books, Ban abortn, Ban Black history, Ban transgenr teens, Ban sayg ‘gay’ and Ban votg, ” said Dean Obeidallah, a left-leang rad host and edian, on March 11. ’” On SNL’s “Weekend Update” segment, anchor Col Jost told st member Kate McKnon, who is gay, that the bill “means that you n’t acknowledge that ‘gay’ exists at all. ” McKnon then slammed the legislatn, sayg, “I am eply gay — sorry, eply ncerned.

It jt seems like this is gog to make kids gay and trans — sorry, prsed and suicidal. ” The claims n largely be attributed to the legislatn’s “don’t say gay” nickname, ed by Equaly Florida.

The legislatn do not lerally prohib Floridians om sayg the word “gay, ” but do prohib “classroom discsn about sexual orientatn or genr inty.

FACT-CHECKG 3 PROMENT CLAIMS ABOUT FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL

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.

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

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.

AFTER 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL PASSED, ANTI-LGBTQ 'GROOMG' RHETORIC SURGED 400% ONLE

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

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

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.

“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.