Florida teachers navigate their first year unr the 'Don't Say Gay' law

After the passage of what crics have lled Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law, havg ank, open nversatns wh stunts about the world around them is hard. * florida gay teachers *

"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.

‘IT’S HAD A CHILLG EFFECT’: FLORIDA TEACHERS ANX ABOUT ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL

Supporters and crics of the "Don't Say Gay" bill differ on whether would prevent the "stctn" or "discsn" of sexual orientatn or genr inty * florida gay teachers *

”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.

One of the measur, the Parental Rights Edutn law — or what crics have lled the “Don’t Say Gay” law — bans stctn about sexual orientatn and genr inty “ krgarten through gra 3 or a manner that is not age appropriate or velopmentally appropriate for stunts acrdance wh state standards.

“I’ve been extremely overwhelmed as a gay man who now is openly out, bee I have to be the advote, ” he said. “People know I’m a unn lear, and they know that I’m a gay man. Michael Woods, a high school special tn teacher Palm Beach unty, Florida, wh 30 years of experience teachg and who grew up as a stunt the area who was bullied for beg gay, said he cried the night before this school year began Augt 2022 bee of anxiety related to Florida’s “don’t say gay” bill that went to effect July 2022.

LGBTQ TEACHERS STGGLE TO NAVIGATE FLORIDA'S SO-CALLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW

* florida gay teachers *

“As a gay teacher, as a queer male, ’s been paful for me, ’s been very paful and very upsettg, ” said Woods. “The bills are all based on false pretens, they’re li, they’re based on li, they make assumptns that somethg is happeng our schools area, that teachers are somehow doctratg our stunts, teachg them to be gay, or whatever the se may be, ” said Andrew Spar, print of the Florida Edutn add: “I thk the biggt thg gog to the school year is the unknown, bee this bill and the other bills that are out there, give parents the abily to brg plats agast teachers, brg lawsus agast school districts, and we jt don’t know how ’s gog to play out.

TEACHERS FEAR THE CHILLG EFFECT OF FLORIDA'S SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW

LGBTQ+ teachers Florida said they've been told to hi their inti at work so as not to vlate the state's 'Don't Say Gay' law. * florida gay teachers *

”Ron DeSantis, the ernor of Florida, signg the ‘don’t say gay’ bill March 2022. ” This fall is the first school year which teachers and school admistrators mt follow Florida’s HB 1557—lled the “Parental Rights Edutn” statute by lawmakers and dubbed the Don’t Say Gay law by crics—that banned 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 acrdance wh state standards. ) “All we want as tors is to create a safe space for our stunts and teach them to rpect each other, ” says Brian Kerek, a gay high school math teacher Osceola County, Florida.

Cory Bernaert, a gay krgarten teacher Parrish, Florida, says his curriculum has never clud discsns of genr inty or sexual orientatn. ) “The fact that someone has to say to the teachers that you n have a picture of your spoe on your sk, shows the environment they’re havg to work , ” says McCracken, who is gay.

I’M A GAY KRGARTEN TEACHER FLORIDA. THE ARE THE QUTNS I’M ASKG MYSELF.

“You nnot teach kids to be gay or straight,” Alyssa Marano said. “I jt want my kids to be able to solve for X.” * florida gay teachers *

Michael Woods, a gay high school special tn teacher Palm Beach County, says he terpreted Palm Beach’s school district’s guidance to mean that if a stunt tells him somethg about their genr or pronouns, he mt notify the kid’s parents. It's a bill that's drawn natnwi ntroversy, dubbed by opponents as the "Don't Say Gay" bill. Unr the new law, he wonrs, will be nsired age-appropriate to tell his stunts that the Revolutnary War hero, the Pssian General Friedrich Wilhelm Von Stben, is wily believed to have been openly gay?

Demonstrators gather to prott what opponents ll the "Don't Say Gay" bill on the steps of the Florida Historic Capol Mm Tallahassee on March 7, 2022. As a gay man, he says, tells him and his LGBTQ stunts that there's somethg "appropriate" about them: that their inty is taboo, or somehow dirty.

"I n tell you as someone who grew up as a gay boy, how real that statistic is, " he says, "and how dangero is that the Republin legislators are playg wh the safety of our vulnerable youth. "So yeah, I'm not teachg kids how to be gay my classroom, but I'll tell you what I am dog.

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

A Florida teacher unr a state vtigatn for showg a Disney movie featurg a gay character said she wasn’t aware the state’s ntroversial law banng stctn about certa LGBTQ topics had been recently expand to apply to her gra level. * florida gay teachers *

As a krgarten teacher who is gay and has pictur of himself and his partner his classroom, I regularly answer qutns om my stunts like: “Mr.

Calls and emails were ma to my supertennt mandg my termatn, far-right news outlets began nng headl like “Gay krgarten teacher wants to talk to his kids about his love life, ” and the number of random-number phone lls to my personal cellphone creased twofold.

And a key part of that tn is the necsary, valuable buildg block of muny is built the classroom, the level of engagement I see my stunts mak hard to believe they are only 5 and 6 years the Parental Rights Edutn law, which crics have lled the “Don’t Say Gay” law, ultimately eros that muny. RelatedRon DeSantis’ woke math sndal shows how he’s bee more dangero than TmpFlorida’s anti-gay bill is wrong. 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.

SOME SOUTH FLORIDA TEACHERS SAY 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW IS MAKG THEM NSIR LEAVG THE CLASSROOM

Florida's ernor has signed what crics ll the "Don't Say Gay" bill. Teachers share how they plan to ply and how will affect classroom discsns on sexual orientatn and genr inty. * florida gay teachers *

” 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.

LGBTQ+ TEACHERS TOLD TO HI WHO THEY ARE AS DON’T SAY GAY GO TO EFFECT

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.

IN A DEEP-RED FLORIDA COUNTY, THIS GAY TEACHER QU TO SAVE HER CAREER

“A lot of tst is given to teachers, and ma seem like I wasn’t tsted bee there’s somethg wrong wh me for beg gay, ” he said. “It mak seem like beg gay is somethg vile or disturbg or disgtg when ’s scribed as makg children unfortable knowg that I’m married to a man. ” While the Orlando parents did not succeed havg Thollanr discipled or oted, he and other LGBTQ teachers the state worry that newly signed state law — tled Parental Rights Edutn but dubbed by crics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law — will galvanize parents to take siar actn agast them.

FLORIDA TEACHER UNR VTIGATN FOR SHOWG DISNEY MOVIE WH GAY CHARACTER SAYS SHE DIDN’T KNOW LGBTQ RTRICTN APPLIED TO HER CLASS

Lawmakers who support the law have repeatedly strsed that would 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 nightclub, a gay club Orlando. They need tors that look and remble them, ” said Kerek, who is gay.

”“Teachers do not go out of their way to create the moments where we’re ‘doctratg’ stunts, ” said Woods, who is gay. Florida teachers who are gay or trans are pecially worried they won’t be able to do that anymore, bee of the new Parental Rights Edutn law, which opponents refer to as "Don't Say Gay. She's gay and she rigned earlier this year while Hoe Bill 1557 was still beg bated.

Medvetz is gay. LGBTQ+ school staff Florida have been told to hi pictur of their same genr spoe and not wear rabows as ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law go to effect.

HOW FLORIDA TEACHERS PLAN TO AL WH 'DON'T SAY GAY' L

LGBTQ+ teachers Florida said they’ve been told they mt hi their inti while at work so as not to vlate the state’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law.

CAN FLORIDA’S GAY TEACHERS SHOW PHOTOS? THE WHE HOE CLAIMED NOT.

Durg the meetg, OSPC attorneys advised prcipals across the school district on what would and wouldn’t be legal unr Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, which is slated to take effect Friday (1 July).

Another OCPS official said a separate nversatn that the district need to be ut the wake of the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law gog to effect until the state provid more clary on how the legislatn would be enforced. Florida ernor Ron DeSantis signed the state’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ legislatn to law March. Robert Thollanr left the school after 11 years of workg Florida as a teacher and said the cint ma him feel like he “wasn’t tsted bee there’s somethg wrong” wh him for beg gay.

FLORIDA SCHOOL SYSTEM HAS CLOSED VTIGATN TO TEACHER WHO SHOWED DISNEY MOVIE WH GAY CHARACTER

“It mak seem like beg gay is somethg vile or disturbg or disgtg when ’s scribed as makg children unfortable knowg that I’m married to a man, ” Thollanr said. Nilette Solomon, a teacher Miami-Da County, told the outlet that the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law would “erase” her as an “LGBTQ” teacher”. “No one is teachg your kids to be gay!

“Sometim they jt are gay.

How Florida teachers plan to al wh 'Don't Say Gay' l : NPR

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