Why "Gay" Isn't a Bad Word for Children | HuffPost Contributor

Contents:

• HERE'S WHAT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL WOULD DO AND WHAT WOULDN'T DO
• HOW THE TIM GAVE ‘GAY’ ITS OWN VOICE (AGA)
• FLORIDA JT PASSED THE "DON'T SAY GAY" BILL. HERE’S WHAT IT MEANS FOR KIDS
• FLORIDA'S ERNOR SIGNS NTROVERSIAL LAW OPPONENTS DUBBED 'DON'T SAY GAY'
• FACT-CHECKG 3 PROMENT CLAIMS ABOUT FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL
• FACT CHECK: WORD 'GAY' NOT MENTNED IN FLORIDA BILL LIMG TEACHG ABOUT SEXUAL ORIENTATN, GENR INTY IN SCHOOL
• DESANTIS-BACKED 'DONT SAY GAY' BILL SPARKS OUTRAGE
• FLORIDA'S NTROVERSIAL 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL: WHAT'S SI THE PROPOSED LAW
• FLORIDA SENATE PASS NTROVERSIAL "DON'T SAY GAY" BILL SPE PROTTS
• WHAT’S A NAME: ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ VS. ‘PARENTAL RIGHTS’
• AS FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW TAK EFFECT, SCHOOLS ROLL OUT LGBTQ RTRICTNS
• FLORIDA HOE PASS NTROVERSIAL 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL
• WHY "GAY" ISN'T A BAD WORD FOR CHILDREN
• 'PARENTAL RIGHTS EDUTN' OR 'DON'T SAY GAY?': EXPLAG THE FIGHT OVER FLORIDA BILL THAT WOULD BAN DISCSN OF SEXUAL ORIENTATN, GENR INTY SCHOOLS

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. ” 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.

HOW THE TIM GAVE ‘GAY’ ITS OWN VOICE (AGA)

“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. AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTPri Cenila/The New York TimJune 19, 2017I’m gay.

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

My fay, iends and lleagu had known for que a, I uld not have wrten those words bee our Manual of Style and Usage prohibed :gay. Do not e as a synonym for homosexual unls appears the formal, palized name of an anizatn or quoted matter. “Startg immediately, ” he stated, “we will accept the word gay as an adjective meang homosexual.

”By sayg “gay” s own voice, the newspaper that set the standard for prs verage throughout the untry was acknowledgg the existence of a muny and a movement far broar and richer than “homosexual” — clil, nfg and imposed by others — uld possibly nventnal histori, therefore, 1987 is a there is a longer and more plited story about the acceptance, banishment and subsequent reappearance of the word “gay” the than a half-century ago, The Tim reviewed John Rechy’s novel “Cy of Night, ” a graphic acunt of a gay htler’s transgrsive travels through Ameri.

“The excement of this ‘gay’ world, as Rechy pats , nsists so much s illegaly, s furtive, on-the-lam qualy, ” the reviewer, Peter Buenhuis, wrote 1969, an say the Arts & Leisure sectn ma pla that outlaw sex was only one facet of gay life. The piece appeared four months before the vlent and history-makg monstratn by gays at the Stonewall Inn Greenwich Village. In the article, a gay man, who was wrg psdonymoly, exprsed his yearng to be picted popular culture as somethg other than a tragic, doomed socpath.

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

“Unls art has no effect on those portrays, the Amerin Gay Boy and Lbian mt certaly view themselv, at least subnscly, as send-class cizens, ” he wrote.

“Gay” was even makg s way to headl — “5 Gay Candidat Are State Contts, ” “Christopher Street: From Farm to Gay Center, ” “Relig Orr Found Here By One-Year-Old Gay Church, ” “Fally — Two Films Dealg Wh the Issu of Gay Lib, ” “The Gay Life: Cartoon vs. Realy, ” “The ‘Gay’ People Demand Their Rights, ” “A Catholic on ‘Gay’ Life” and “Is Gay a ‘Secury Risk’?

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

” Cenila/The New York TimJt as the word “gay” was enterg to mastream nversatn the late 1960s and early ’70s, so s e seemed to be creasg anilly at The Tim — not necsarily enuraged, but not entirely slow progrs me to a full stop on April 6, 1975, when The Tim published a eewheelg, knowg and unhibed acunt by Clifford Jahr of a luxury cise through the Gulf of Mexi for lbians and gay men, many of whom were closeted. “The All-Gay Cise: Prejudice and Pri” was the lead article of the Sunday Travel his way to an unexceptnable ncln (“the week passed a warm spir of moratn and mutual rpect”), Mr. He orred The Tim to avoid the subject of gay life for a long time, Max Frankel, a former executive edor, wrote his memoir, “The Tim of My Life and My Life Wh The Tim.

” And he banned the word “gay, ” Ms. In 1983, a legatn that clud Andrew Humm of the Coaln for Lbian and Gay Rights and David P.

Rothenberg of the Lbian and Gay Communy Servic Center met wh Sydney Gson, the vice chairman of The New York Tim Company. “But he balked at g ‘gay, ’ spe David’s sistence that was a much better, shorter headle word. Siegal — who was The Tim’s arber of standards and age — broached liftg the ban on “gay.

FACT CHECK: WORD 'GAY' NOT MENTNED IN FLORIDA BILL LIMG TEACHG ABOUT SEXUAL ORIENTATN, GENR INTY IN SCHOOL

Frankel wrote, “I simply rmed Punch that we would beg to e gay and lbian as adjectiv social, cultural and polil ntexts. Humm of the televisn program “Gay USA” — said she was stck by s “pth, nuance, sophistitn and good humor. ”“If The Tim had ntued and veloped the qualy of verage monstrated the ‘gay cise’ piece, ” she said, “the L.

“I was well aware that the paper had never rried a gay liftyle piece, so I let Max know that I was planng to e , pegged to the boomg gay travel market, ” he told me were lls for Mr.

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.

DESANTIS-BACKED 'DONT SAY GAY' BILL SPARKS OUTRAGE

” 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? 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. 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.

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.

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

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.

FLORIDA SENATE PASS NTROVERSIAL "DON'T SAY GAY" BILL SPE PROTTS

“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.

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.

WHAT’S A NAME: ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ VS. ‘PARENTAL RIGHTS’

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

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

Did the Florida legislature ban the word "gay" the state?

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

The word gay never appears the seven pag of legislatn. LGBTQ activists have dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill bee would lim what classrooms n teach about sexual orientatn and genr inty.

Jt remember, the party of limed ernment and ee speech banned the word gay the state of Florida.

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.

WHY "GAY" ISN'T A BAD WORD FOR CHILDREN

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.

'PARENTAL RIGHTS EDUTN' OR 'DON'T SAY GAY?': EXPLAG THE FIGHT OVER FLORIDA BILL THAT WOULD BAN DISCSN OF SEXUAL ORIENTATN, GENR INTY SCHOOLS

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?