In some stat, versns of ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bills have been around for awhile | PBS NewsHour

Contents:

• SB 1278 | DON'T SAY 'GAY' PA
• TWO “DON’T SAY GAY” BILLS PASS PA. SENATE TN MTEE
• WHAT DO ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ ACTUALLY SAY?
• PA.’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL IS DANGERO AND MISGUID
• BOROWICZ SPEARHEADS ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL PA.
• IN SOME STAT, VERSNS OF ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILLS HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR AWHILE
• PA. SENATORS TO TRODUCE LEGISLATN SIAR TO FLA.'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL
• FLORIDA'S ERNOR SIGNS NTROVERSIAL LAW OPPONENTS DUBBED 'DON'T SAY GAY'
• IS PENNSYLVANIA ON THE VERGE OF ADOPTG A ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW?
• PA. GOP LAWMAKERS PH BILL WH LANGUAGE BROAR THAN FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW
• APA PRINT NMNS FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL

SB 1278 | DON'T SAY 'GAY' PA

SB 1278 then appli that standard of “ntraly” to unfed “classroom stctn, ” prohibg any acknowledgement of gay or trans people gras K-5 and wh vague veats gras 6-12, which actually mak the bill more rtrictive than Florida’s Don’t Say Gay bill, which was limed to K-3 stctn. Pennsylvania state reprentativ have troduced a bill regulatg classroom stctn that is more rtrictive than Florida's famo "don't say gay" law. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, has promised to veto or any bill like , cludg HB 2813, which he said "ni humany by rercg homophobic iologi, " acrdg to news se Lol Today.

Republin State Senators Stt Mart and Ryan Aument are the lead sponsors of the two "Don't Say Gay" bills.

TWO “DON’T SAY GAY” BILLS PASS PA. SENATE TN MTEE

On June 21, the Pennsylvania Senate Edutn Commtee passed two wi-rangg anti-LGBTQ+ bills that LGBTQ advot are llg worse than Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislatn. Ryan Aument (R-Lanster), would require parents to be notified and have the optn of optg out of their child havg accs to books librari and classroom materials that nta same-genr relatnships and referenc to homosexualy. Er Ellis, a member of the Philalphia chapter of Parents, Fai and and Friends of Lbians and Gays (PFLAG), has two elementary-age children, one of whom intifi as trans and the other as nonbary.

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. 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.

WHAT DO ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ ACTUALLY SAY?

Not once were my peers or I treated differently; on the ntrary, we were district stood behd , even when two protters stood outsi the high school 2019 and waved signs that read: “Beg gay is a s. Pennsylvania Senate Bill 1278, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, would have changed that entirely.

Nasharie Stewart is a risg sophomore at Johns Hopks Universy, where she is studyg polil science and psychology. GOP state lawmakers are phg a bill to lim school stctn that is more expansive than the Florida legislatn that has been scribed by s opponents as the “don’t say gay” law. The effect has led opponents of the measure to dub the “don’t say gay” law.

The most ncrete allegatns of this were prented Tuday by Fenicia Redman, who sued the state after she said she found that her son’s school library had books such as “The Complete Idt’s Gui to Tantric Sex, ” as well as graphic novels pictg timate homosexual relatnships. HARRISBURG — As a closeted gay child growg up Lanster the 1990s, J Eric Fisher didn’t feel safe. He was shocked by the amount of homophobia he wnsed his day-to-day life.

PA.’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL IS DANGERO AND MISGUID

But when he asked the school he planned to send his child to how handled discrimatn, officials told him homophobia “don’t exist” the school realy, many LGBTQIA+ stunts Pennsylvania have experienced verbal and physil harassment as well as discrimatory school polici, acrdg to a 2019 survey by GLSEN, an LGBTQIA+ anti-bullyg advocy nonprof. ”“The recent wave of ‘Don’t Say Gay or Trans’ laws that passed several stat … n have the impact of endorsg excln, bullyg, and harassment of LGBT youth Amerin tn settgs, ” wrote Victor Madrigal-Borloz, an expert on vlence and discrimatn for the U. ”The state Senate bill is siar to the Parental Rights Edutn law enacted Florida this summer, dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by s crics.

Pennsylvania’s bill also would require teachers and schools to rema “ntral” and prevent “ernment endorsement” of views about genr inty and sexual a memo to the state Senate, Elizabeth Randol, legislative director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, qutned exactly what means to be “ntral” on gay people. “Requirg schools, teachers, or staff adopt a posn of ‘ntraly’ on sexual orientatn and genr inty do not change the fact that gay, trans, and non-bary people exist, ” Randol wrote.

BOROWICZ SPEARHEADS ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL PA.

“Ntraly nnot wish the gay away.

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.

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

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.

PA. SENATORS TO TRODUCE LEGISLATN SIAR TO FLA.'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL

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

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

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

IS PENNSYLVANIA ON THE VERGE OF ADOPTG A ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW?

“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.

PA. GOP LAWMAKERS PH BILL WH LANGUAGE BROAR THAN FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW

Five stat repealed their “Don’t Say Gay” bills between 2006 and 2021, when Alabama rcd s law.

APA PRINT NMNS FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL

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. 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.