‘Don’t Say Gay’ law brgs worry, nfn to Florida schools | PBS NewsHour

Contents:

• FLORIDA JT PASSED THE "DON'T SAY GAY" BILL. HERE’S WHAT IT MEANS FOR KIDS
• WHAT DO ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ ACTUALLY SAY?
• IN SOME STAT, VERSNS OF ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILLS HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR AWHILE
• “DON'T SAY GAY” BILLS AREN'T NEW. THEY'VE JT BEEN REVIVED
• WHAT'S THE SO-LLED DON'T SAY GAY BILL THAT ULD IMPACT THE WHOLE UNTRY
• IT’S NOT JT FLORIDA. 15 OTHER ‘DON’T SAY GAY’-STYLE BILLS ARE CROPPG UP NATNWI
• A TIMELE OF DISNEY'S RPONSE TO FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL
• HERE'S WHAT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL WOULD DO AND WHAT WOULDN'T DO
• ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW BRGS WORRY, NFN TO FLORIDA SCHOOLS
• FLORIDA'S ERNOR SIGNS NTROVERSIAL LAW OPPONENTS DUBBED 'DON'T SAY GAY'
• GOP LAWMAKERS TRODUCE VERSN OF 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL OH
• AFTER PROTTS, DISNEY CEO SPEAKS OUT AGAST FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL

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

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.

” 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. 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.

WHAT DO ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ ACTUALLY SAY?

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.

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

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.

“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. 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. 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.

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

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. 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.

IT’S NOT JT FLORIDA. 15 OTHER ‘DON’T SAY GAY’-STYLE BILLS ARE CROPPG UP NATNWI

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.

A TIMELE OF DISNEY'S RPONSE TO FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL

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

“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. 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.

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

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

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. Demonstrators gather on the steps of the Florida Historic Capol Mm ont of the Florida State Capol March Tallahassee, Fla, prottg what opponents ll the "Don't Say Gay" bill. Hoe Republins have troduced legislatn that some crics are scribg as a natnal "Don't Say Gay" bill – spired by the ntroversial Florida law that bans stctn on genr inty and sexual orientatn krgarten through third gra class.

" Crics of the measure dubbed the Florida law "Don't Say Gay" and argue that s tent is to margalize LGBTQ people and their fai.

‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW BRGS WORRY, NFN TO FLORIDA SCHOOLS

A feral 'Don't Say Gay or Trans' bill... Activist Er Reed, who tracks anti-transgenr legislatn, argu that the parison to a "Don't Say Gay" bill mimiz the potential effects of this proposed legislatn. "Don't Say Gay/Trans was foced on 'classroom stctn' which was bad enough, " she wrote on Twter.

Sce Florida’s Hoe mtee passed the Parental Rights Edutn bill — known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill — January, a natnal spotlight has turned on the state as propos banng school stctn on LGBTQ+ people and issu.

Yet Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill is jt one part of a natnwi trend.

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

A Hoe bill Tennsee would ban textbook and stctnal materials that “promote, normalize, support, or addrs lbian, gay, bisexual, or transgenr (LGBT) liftyl” K-12 schools. Another, Kansas, seeks to amend the state’s obsceny law to make g classroom materials pictg “homosexualy” a Class B mismeanor. Two bills, SB 1142 and SB 1654, would prohib librarians and teachers om distributg materials on or outright discsg “any form of non-procreative sex, ” genr inty and “lbian, gay, bisexual, or transgenr issu.

GOP LAWMAKERS TRODUCE VERSN OF 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL OH

Still, advot worry that the passage of legislatn like “Don’t Say Gay” will e at the expense of LGBTQ+ youth particular, who are already at greater risk of mental health issu, self-harm and suici.

LGBTQ+ GROUP SLAMS FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL IN NEW AD. HOUSE COMMITTEE IN FLORIDA PASSES ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL.

The Walt Disney Company has bee ground zero of the fallout om Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill. If you've been followg the fallout behd Florida's disastro "Don't Say Gay" bill, you will have noticed that one rporate name keeps g up: The Walt Disney, which has a history of supportg LGBTQ rights sce the early 1990s, has been the subject of protts for over a week om LGBTQ advot and s own employe, alike, for what many feel is the pany's lacklter and mealy-mouthed rponse to the the past week, the multibilln dollar nglomerate, led by CEO Bob Chapek, flip-flopped om rad silence and tac approval to day-late-and-dollar-short-nunciatn.

AFTER PROTTS, DISNEY CEO SPEAKS OUT AGAST FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL

Thursday, Febary 17, 2022This article om Substack publitn Popular Informatn went viral and shed a spotlight on rporatns fundg the sponsors of the "Don't Say Gay Bill. Wednday, March 2, 2022Global nonprof, AIDS Healthre Foundatn (AHF), lnched a TV ad mpaign the Orlando, FL market "implorg the Walt Disney Company to speak out publicly and loudly opposn to the hateful “Don’t Say Gay” legislatn pendg Florida (FL’s HB1557 and SB1834).

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.