Fact-checkg 3 proment claims about Florida's ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill - Poynter

Contents:

• “DON'T SAY GAY” BILLS AREN'T NEW. THEY'VE JT BEEN REVIVED
• WHY IT'S A MISTAKE TO CALL THOSE ANTI-LGBTQ LAWS 'DON'T SAY GAY'
• FACT-CHECKG 3 PROMENT CLAIMS ABOUT FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL
• SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' L EXPAND THROUGH 12TH GRA FLORIDA
• FACT CHECK: FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL DON’T MENTN ‘GAY’, WOULD APPLY TO ‘PRIMARY’ GRAS
• HOW FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW ULD HARM CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH
• WHAT'S THE SO-LLED DON'T SAY GAY BILL THAT ULD IMPACT THE WHOLE UNTRY
• FLORIDA ADVANC 'DON’T SAY GAY' BILL
• WHO IS JOSEPH ZIEGLER, THE GAY IRS WHISTLEBLOWER HUNTER BIN PROBE?
• WHAT DO ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ ACTUALLY SAY?
• FLORIDA'S ERNOR SIGNS NTROVERSIAL LAW OPPONENTS DUBBED 'DON'T SAY GAY'
• EXPLAINER: WHAT IS LAW CRICS HAVE DUBBED 'DON'T SAY GAY'?
• STRICTLY LEGAL: SU OVER 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL FAILS
• FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL WILL HURT TEENS LIKE ME

“DON'T SAY GAY” BILLS AREN'T NEW. THEY'VE JT BEEN REVIVED

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. But a handful of stat, versns of the legislatn have existed for 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. A year ago, “Don’t Say Gay” laws that had passed the 1980s were nsired archaic, LGBTQ+ advot said, wh many of them repealed over the years.

”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.

WHY IT'S A MISTAKE TO CALL THOSE ANTI-LGBTQ LAWS 'DON'T SAY GAY'

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

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

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

Opposn Democrats and LGBTQ rights activists have lobbied agast what they ll the "Don't Say Gay" law, which will affect kids krgarten through third gra, when they are eight or ne years old. 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.

SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' L EXPAND THROUGH 12TH GRA FLORIDA

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.

Five stat repealed their “Don’t Say Gay” bills between 2006 and 2021, when Alabama rcd s law. Advot say part of that surprise is that “Don’t Say Gay” statut have been revived after two s. Vivian Toppg, director of advocy and civic engagement of the Equaly Feratn, a aln of state LGBTQ+ anizatns, said lol Florida anizers worked overtime to sound the alarms about their “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

FACT CHECK: FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL DON’T MENTN ‘GAY’, WOULD APPLY TO ‘PRIMARY’ GRAS

Advot say that the current ph for “Don’t Say Gay” bills is polil. Ron DeSantis’ cisn to ph the “Don’t Say Gay” bill Florida is ls about kids and more about the Republin’s printial ambns.

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

Collectively, the laws have e to be known as “Don’t Say Gay” bills, and as they ga momentum, they’re attractg natnal attentn.

“Don’t Say Gay” may be simple shorthand that n spread rapidly among alli, such as celebri on the red rpet, but ’s a mistake.

WHAT'S THE SO-LLED DON'T SAY GAY BILL THAT ULD IMPACT THE WHOLE UNTRY

By g “gay” as a tchall, advot leave out some key nstuenci and obscure the te nature and tent of this legislatn.

FLORIDA ADVANC 'DON’T SAY GAY' BILL

Given that “trans” isn’t reprented anywhere “Don’t Say Gay, ” the same thg that mak the turn of phrase so memorable serv to unrcut the serns of bills that have annihilatn at their heart. Read More: I Know What It’s Like to Be a Florida Teen Who Can’t Say Gay.

I Was One It’s not that the thors of such bills want people to stop sayg “gay” at school: It’s that they don’t want LGBTQ people to exist at all, and this is one way of slowly erasg them. ’s famo Sectn 28, enacted 1988 to prohib tors om “promotg homosexualy. “The Don’t Say Gay Bill is also a Don’t Say Trans bill, ” tweeted civil rights attorney Chase Strang.

’ Platiffs the First Lawsu Challengg ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Florida Speak Out “Don’t Say Gay” may be easy to put on prott signs, but rri uneasy overton of a long history of erasg trans people om the spac they helped build. While Pri is often remembered as a watershed moment for gay people, for example, the actual events at the Stonewall were led by trans women. Some on social media have turned to “don’t say gay or trans, ” which is straightforward, if a ltle longer, ensurg that trans kids feel seen.

WHO IS JOSEPH ZIEGLER, THE GAY IRS WHISTLEBLOWER HUNTER BIN PROBE?

“We say gay. ” There is power, value, and anizg utily namg somethg clearly and explicly: It’s why phras such as Black Liv Matter and “Don’t Say Gay” bee so inic, and ’s pecially valuable for reachg people who aren’t faiar wh the issu or don’t unrstand why they matter. 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 ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ ACTUALLY SAY?

“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.

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

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.

EXPLAINER: WHAT IS LAW CRICS HAVE DUBBED 'DON'T SAY GAY'?

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

STRICTLY LEGAL: SU OVER 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL FAILS

It looks like this le would make impossible to do much stctn at all, " Lra McGnis, of the LGBTQ advocy group PFLAG, prevly told ABC law was dubbed "Don't Say Gay" by crics for aimg to rtrict curriculum that clus history, lerature and more that touch on LGBTQ inti. CLAIM: Conservative Florida legislators are targetg vulnerable gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr, and tersex children.

FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL WILL HURT TEENS LIKE ME

The Bin Whe Hoe has attacked a Florida bill rtrictg the teachg of sexualy among young children that Democrats are referrg to as “Don’t Say Gay, ” but the bill do not refer to “gay” and only appli om krgarten through third gra. The Whe Hoe specifilly referred to the legislatn as “Don’t Say Gay”:. In rponse to FL "Don't Say Gay" bills, "The Print wants #LGBTQI+ young people who may be feelg sred or alone to know that they are loved exactly for who they are, and that he won’t stop fightg for the protectns and safety they serve.

But the legislatn that is g such a stir among Democrats and journalists do not mentn “gay” or any specific sexualy.

“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.