‘It’s had a chillg effect’: Florida teachers anx about ‘don’t say gay’ bill | Florida | The Guardian

Contents:

• FLORIDA TEACHER UNR VTIGATN FOR SHOWG DISNEY MOVIE WH GAY CHARACTER SAYS SHE DIDN’T KNOW LGBTQ RTRICTN APPLIED TO HER CLASS
• FLORIDA SCHOOL SYSTEM HAS CLOSED VTIGATN TO TEACHER WHO SHOWED DISNEY MOVIE WH GAY CHARACTER
• FLORIDA TEACHER SAYS SHE IS UNR VTIGATN AFTER SHOWG 5TH GRA CLASS DISNEY MOVIE WH GAY CHARACTER
• IN A DEEP-RED FLORIDA COUNTY, THIS GAY TEACHER QU TO SAVE HER CAREER
• I’M A GAY KRGARTEN TEACHER FLORIDA. THE ARE THE QUTNS I’M ASKG MYSELF.
• ‘IT’S HAD A CHILLG EFFECT’: FLORIDA TEACHERS ANX ABOUT ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL
• FLORIDA TEACHERS NAVIGATE THEIR FIRST YEAR UNR THE 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW
• LGBTQ TEACHERS STGGLE TO NAVIGATE FLORIDA'S SO-CALLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW
• FLORIDA IS VTIGATG A TEACHER WHO SHOWED A DISNEY MOVIE WH A GAY CHARACTER
• AS FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW TAK EFFECT, SCHOOLS ROLL OUT LGBTQ RTRICTNS
• 'DON'T SAY GAY': HOW THE FLORIDA BILL IS IMPACTG A KRGARTEN TEACHER
• FLORIDA TEACHER FIRED FROM ADVENTIST SCHOOL FOR BEG GAY
• TEACHERS FEAR THE CHILLG EFFECT OF FLORIDA'S SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW

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

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. The Disney film tells the story of a fay of explorers and featur a gay character.

When DeSantis signed the ban to law last year, he and other Florida Republins touted as a protectn of parents’ rights, while opponents slammed as yet another effort by GOP lawmakers the state to erase and opprs LGBTQ people schools, llg the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. A first-year teacher at Wdg Waters K-8 school, Barbee said she showed the 2022 film bee directly related to class curriculum, not bee portrayed Disney’s first openly gay character. Ron DeSantis signed legislatn March 2022 sayg was a form of “parental rights, ” while opponents said tried to erase LGBTQ people om schools and dubbed the law “Don’t Say Gay.

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

A fifth-gra teacher said she is beg vtigated by the Florida Department of Edutn after she showed her stunts “Strange World, ” a 2022 animated Disney movie featurg a character who is biracial and gay.

FLORIDA TEACHER SAYS SHE IS UNR VTIGATN AFTER SHOWG 5TH GRA CLASS DISNEY MOVIE WH GAY CHARACTER

DeSantis and other supporters phed the measure as a form of “parental rights, ” while opponents said tried to erase LGBTQ people om schools and dubbed the law “Don’t Say Gay. The movie also featured Disney’s first-ever out-gay character, voiced by edian Jaboie Young-Whe. A gay krgarten teacher Florida has said he fears the state’s new law prohibg him om engagg classroom “stctn” related to sexual orientatn and genr inty will prevent him om formg important bonds wh his stunts bee he is unable to talk about his personal life.

The state’s Parental Rights Edutn law – known to s crics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law – was signed on Monday by Republin Gov. A gay Florida krgarten teacher on Tuday said he worri he will have to shield his personal life om his young stunts unr the state’s new Parental Rights Edutn law, which has been dubbed by s crics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

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

“They’re not secretly phg the ‘gay agenda, ’ the ‘trans agenda, ’ the ‘woke agenda’ – ’s jt not happeng, ” state Sen. “No one is teachg your kids to be gay! “Sometim they jt are gay.

I lerally don’t have time to teach your kids to be gay. ”“This gay teacher, who accepts her stunts exactly as they are, outsred the unty by 15% geometry and outsred the state by 10%, ” she add. ”Hundreds of people had shown up for the meetg, largely due to an ongog ntroversy over a fifth-gra teacher who had shown her stunts a Disney movie that clud a gay character.

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

And I’m gay.

Marano was worried about gettg fired for vlatg Florida’s so-lled “Don’t Say Gay” law, which lims what teachers n say about genr inty and sexual orientatn the classroom and allows for a teacher’s license to be revoked if they break the law. Jenna Barbee, the teacher who showed her class “Strange World, ” a movie about climate change that has a gay character, has also recently rigned. Shannon Rodriguez, a parent the district and a member of the school board who is backed by the ultranservative group Moms 4 Liberty, reported Barbee to the partment after she learned about stunts seeg the movie last said she’s worried that small gtur, like displayg a Pri flag, and teachers talkg to stunts about their liv outsi of school uld be grounds for disciplary actn unr the Don’t Say Gay law.

“Providg stunts wh a rabow flag don’t mean you’re teachg kids to be gay, ” Marano said.

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

“You nnot teach kids to be gay or straight, ” Marano said. 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.

FLORIDA TEACHERS NAVIGATE THEIR FIRST YEAR UNR THE 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW

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. “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.

”Ron DeSantis, the ernor of Florida, signg the ‘don’t say gay’ bill March 2022.

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.

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

” 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. 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.

FLORIDA IS VTIGATG A TEACHER WHO SHOWED A DISNEY MOVIE WH A GAY CHARACTER

A Florida teacher is unr vtigatn by the state's Department of Edutn after she showed her stunts a Disney movie that featur a gay character. The law — which crics have dubbed "Don't Say Gay" — bars classroom stctn related to sexual orientatn and genr inty krgarten through third gra.

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.

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

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. Crics were already llg the “don’t say gay” bill.

She thought about the handwrten letter one of her first stunts, a boy, once hand her: “So I have a secret that is that I am gay! In that role, which she started jt after graduatg om Florida Internatnal Universy wh a gree psychology, Solomon traveled to schools and unseled LGBTQ stunts, helpg transgenr children change their nam and gay, lbian or queer children e out to parents and, Solomon realized her favore part of the job was beg si schools, spendg time wh young people. “I remember one cint, she did have a stunt who was gay, ” Arriete said.

'DON'T SAY GAY': HOW THE FLORIDA BILL IS IMPACTG A KRGARTEN TEACHER

‘Bee she’s gay’From the start, there was a part of her life that Solomon hid om her the first three years of her teachg job, no one told her explicly to nceal the fact she was married to a woman.

FLORIDA TEACHER FIRED FROM ADVENTIST SCHOOL FOR BEG GAY

“No one else was gay at the school, you know — no one else knew anythg about that. ”Over the years, a half-dozen children me out to her as gay or transgenr. ”But as Solomon’s stunts ma her feel need, some of her lleagu were dog the the job, one teacher — who figured out Solomon was gay after watchg Hayley help Solomon rt suppli to her classroom — told her the middle of a sual nversatn, “I like you as a person, but I don’t support gay marriage.

” Arriete, whose brother is gay, walked away rather than start an, Arriete nomated Solomon for a “Rookie Teacher of the Year” prize, award through a faculty-wi vote.

As staff members were stg down to vote, Arriete said she heard another teacher mutter that she refed to vote for Solomon “bee she’s gay.

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

“A lot of people didn’t vote bee she is openly gay, and that is wrong, ” she said. The years of homophobic ments om her lleagu now seemed enshred state law, their msage — “you don’t belong here” — triumphant and stunts cried when she told them. A Florida krgarten teacher said he is worried he uld be sued for havg hont nversatns the classroom unr the state’s new “Don’t Say Gay” law, an terview wh MSNBC on Bernaert said the bill uld prevent him om even mentng his partner class, addg that children are cur and discsns help foster muny schools.