Florida’s New ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Laws: What They Mean for Kids | Time

Contents:

• HERE'S WHAT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL WOULD DO AND WHAT WOULDN'T DO
• BILLBOARDS ACROSS FLORIDA ENURAGE PEOPLE TO 'SAY GAY'
• FLORIDA JT PASSED THE "DON'T SAY GAY" BILL. HERE’S WHAT IT MEANS FOR KIDS
• FLORIDA'S NTROVERSIAL 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL: WHAT'S SI THE PROPOSED LAW
• FLORIDA'S ERNOR SIGNS NTROVERSIAL LAW OPPONENTS DUBBED 'DON'T SAY GAY'
• DESANTIS-BACKED 'DONT SAY GAY' BILL SPARKS OUTRAGE
• ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL: FLORIDA SENATE PASS LAW MARGALIZG LGBTQ+ PEOPLE
• WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT FLORIDA'S NEW 'DON'T SAY GAY' RULE THAT BANS DISCSN OF GENR FOR ALL STUNTS
• FLORIDA HOE PASS NTROVERSIAL "DON'T SAY GAY" BILL
• AS FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW TAK EFFECT, SCHOOLS ROLL OUT LGBTQ RTRICTNS
• 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL PASS FLORIDA SENATE
• “SAY GAY” IS TRENDG AS EVERYONE SPEAKS OUT AGAST FLORIDA’S DON’T SAY GAY LAW

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

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.

BILLBOARDS ACROSS FLORIDA ENURAGE PEOPLE TO 'SAY GAY'

” 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.

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

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

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

”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. Billboards poppg up some of Florida’s largt ci are enuragg passersby to “say gay. ”The massive roadsi msag are a rponse to the state’s ntroversial Parental Rights Edutn bill, dubbed by crics the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which Republin Gov.

”'Say Gay' billboard Orlando, Fla.

WESH“It’s OK to say gay. 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.

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

” 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?

DESANTIS-BACKED 'DONT SAY GAY' BILL SPARKS OUTRAGE

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. Florida's Parental Rights Edutn bill, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill by LGBTQ activists, is on Gov. 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?

‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL: FLORIDA SENATE PASS LAW MARGALIZG LGBTQ+ PEOPLE

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"?

Durg the Senate bate, Baxley slammed the nickname bee the bill do not have the word "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. A sign was ed a "Don't Say Gay" prott downtown Fort Myers, March 6, 2022.

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

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.

Jon is the first openly gay man the Florida Senate. Members and supporters of the LGBTQ muny attend the "Say Gay Anyway" rally Miami, March 13, 2022. "This bill is not tend to out gay children.

Members and supporters of the LGBTQ muny attend the "Say Gay Anyway" rally Miami, on March 13, 2022.

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

Opposn Democrats and LGBTQ rights activists have lobbied agast the "Don't Say Gay" law, which will affect kids krgarten through third gra. The bill, which some opponents have lled "Don't Say Gay, " was signed by DeSantis on Monday. The "Don't Say Gay" moniker om crics of the measure who blast this ia and sist this policy will hurt LGBTQ children.

"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. 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.

AS FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW TAK EFFECT, SCHOOLS ROLL OUT LGBTQ RTRICTNS

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 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+ 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 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.

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!

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. 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.

'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL PASS FLORIDA SENATE

“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.

“SAY GAY” IS TRENDG AS EVERYONE SPEAKS OUT AGAST FLORIDA’S DON’T SAY GAY LAW

The set of three bills beg nsired— Hoe Bill 1223, 1069 and Senate Bill 1320— would expand Don’t Say Gay laws.