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

Contents:

• FLORIDA'S NTROVERSIAL 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL: WHAT'S SI THE PROPOSED LAW
• HERE'S WHAT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL WOULD DO AND WHAT WOULDN'T DO
• FLORIDA JT PASSED THE "DON'T SAY GAY" BILL. HERE’S WHAT IT MEANS FOR KIDS
• WHAT'S THE SO-LLED DON'T SAY GAY BILL THAT ULD IMPACT THE WHOLE UNTRY
• DESANTIS-BACKED 'DONT SAY GAY' BILL SPARKS OUTRAGE
• WHAT THE BILL DUBBED ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BY CRICS ACTUALLY SAYS
• NOT JT FLORIDA. MORE THAN A DOZEN STAT PROPOSE SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILLS
• FLORIDA ERNOR SIGNS NTROVERSIAL 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL TO LAW
• FLORIDA HOE PASS 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL
• THE NSTUTNAL PROBLEM WH FLORIDA’S “DON’T SAY GAY” BILL
• THE WHE HOE IS SPREADG VILE LI ABOUT THE ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL
• ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL: FLORIDA SENATE PASS NTROVERSIAL LGBTQ SCHOOL MEASURE
• 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
• 'PARENTAL RIGHTS EDUTN' OR 'DON'T SAY GAY?': EXPLAG THE FIGHT OVER FLORIDA BILL THAT WOULD BAN DISCSN OF SEXUAL ORIENTATN, GENR INTY SCHOOLS
• ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL: FLORIDA SENATE PASS LAW MARGALIZG LGBTQ+ PEOPLE
• OPPONENTS CALL IT THE ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL. HERE’S WHAT IT SAYS.
• FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL IS CEL AND DANGERO
• HOE PASS SWEEPG GAY AND TRANSGENR EQUALY LEGISLATN

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

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? Defg those terms, cludg "heterosexualy, homosexualy or bisexualy" and "genr-related inty, appearance or behavr, " uld clear up what the bill would ban, she said.

Florida Hoe Republins advanced a bill, dubbed by opponents as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, to forbid discsns of sexual orientatn and genr inty schools. Danny Burgs also later add that the standard unrstandg of the terms is what the law would activists ll "Don't Say Gay"? Durg the Senate bate, Baxley slammed the nickname bee the bill do not have the word "gay" .

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

However, the bill's nickname om activists has bee "Don't Say Gay" and "Don't Say Trans" bee advot have said they believe would make LGBTQ people taboo once aga classrooms, settg back the progrs ma by the LGBTQ muny the last few advocy anizatns say the bills are remiscent of the "no promo homo" laws of the 1990s that barred tors om discsg LGBTQ topics school classrooms. A sign was ed a "Don't Say Gay" prott downtown Fort Myers, March 6, 2022.

The march was held to prott Florida's "Don't Say Gay" Wt/The News-Prs via USA Today NetworkAt least four stat still have such laws on the books, cludg Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma. "One of the differenc between the bills and some of the 'no promo homo' laws that passed the 1990s is the heavy-hand mandate on parent and fay volvement, " Melanie Willgham-Jaggers, the executive director of LGBTQ advocy group GLSEN, told ABC add: "We've learned that the prence of even one supportive adult mak all the difference.

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

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

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

Opposn Democrats and LGBTQ rights activists have lobbied agast the "Don't Say Gay" law, which will affect kids krgarten through third gra. 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.

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

For starters, cricism that the “Don’t Say Gay” bill do not fact say “gay” anywhere s text is te.

DESANTIS-BACKED 'DONT SAY GAY' BILL SPARKS OUTRAGE

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. “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.

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.

WHAT THE BILL DUBBED ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BY CRICS ACTUALLY SAYS

” 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. 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.

NOT JT FLORIDA. MORE THAN A DOZEN STAT PROPOSE SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILLS

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. 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.

FLORIDA ERNOR SIGNS NTROVERSIAL 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL TO LAW

Ron DeSantis on Monday signed legislatn banng certa stctn about sexual orientatn and genr inty the classroom, approvg the ntroversial measure that opponents have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law. “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 said. 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.

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. In their qut to bee the party of “parental rights, ” Republins Florida and other stat are attemptg to muzzle discsn of gay and civil rights school. Ron DeSantis signed – tled “Parental Rights Edutn” – has been dubbed by crics the “Don’t Say Gay” bill bee seeks to ban discsn of genr and sexualy issu wh younger stunts.

What has been dubbed by crics as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill was the subject of an tense opposn mpaign.

FLORIDA HOE PASS 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL

Earlier this month, DeSantis grew agated at the Florida Strawberry Ftival when a reporter asked him about the phrase – “Don’t Say Gay” – that crics have applied to the bill.

Across the Uned Stat, at least a dozen stat are nsirg new legislatn that several ways will mirror Florida's new ntroversial law, referred to by some opponents as "Don't Say Gay.

"The stutnalizatn of the bills is an overt form of stctural transphobia and homophobia, and go agast all public health evince creatg a safe and supportive environment for transgenr, nonbary, queer, gay and lbian youths and teachers to thrive, " Arjee Rtar, assistant profsor of epimlogy at the Universy of Washgton, told NPR. Rtar, a social epimlogist and health equy advote, said the ntroversial bills will lim all youths to live to their fullt potential, addg "there should be no room for transphobia and homophobia — pecially the classroom.

THE NSTUTNAL PROBLEM WH FLORIDA’S “DON’T SAY GAY” BILL

" Tennsee's HB 800 bans books and stctnal materials "that promote, normalize, support, or addrs lbian, gay, bi-sexual, or transgenr issu or liftyle. Two years after Arizona lawmakers repealed a law barrg any stctn on HIV or AIDS that that "promot a homosexual liftyle, " they are close to enactg a broad remake of the state's sex tn laws wh a particular foc on LGBTQ issu.

"Florida may be the first this wave, but there have been other laws the past that were lled 'no promo homo' laws, which forbid sayg posive thgs about lbian, gay, bisexual, and queer people classrooms, " Simmons told NPR.

THE WHE HOE IS SPREADG VILE LI ABOUT THE ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL

New York Cy is lnchg a digal billboard mpaign, supportg LGBTQ visibily that will be displayed five major markets Florida for eight weeks, to lure Floridians unhappy wh their state's "Don't Say Gay" law to the Big Apple, Adams announced. Ron DeSantis has signed the Parental Rights Edutn bill, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill by bill bans classroom stctn on sexual orientatn or genr inty krgarten through third gra and stat that any stctn on those topics nnot occur " a manner that is not age-appropriate or velopmentally appropriate for stunts acrdance wh state standards, " acrdg to the legislatn, HB 1557. Hillsborough High School stunts prott a Republin-backed bill dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" that would prohib classroom discsn of sexual orientatn and genr inty, a measure Democrats nounced as beg anti-LGBTQ, Tampa, Fla., March 3, 2022.

Make no mistake, by signg the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, Ron DeSantis is takg the si of hatred, bullyg and discrimatn and sendg a clear msage to children Florida that he don’t re about them or their fai if he n e their pa to sre polil pots wh his base, " Florida Democratic Party Chair Manny Diaz said.

Florida's Hoe of Reprentativ passed a bill Thursday that would prohib "classroom discsn about sexual orientatn or genr inty" the state’s primary legislatn — tled the Parental Rights Edutn bill but dubbed by crics the "Don’t Say Gay" bill — heads to the state's Republin-held Senate, where is expected to pass. " Hardg has repeatedly strsed 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 attack on the Pulse nightclub, a gay club crics have said the broad language of the legislatn uld open districts to lawsus om parents who believe any nversatn about LGBTQ people or issu to be an impassned speech on the Hoe floor Thursday, Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smh, a Democrat who is gay, told lawmakers that he purposefully wore a rabow Pri ribbon upsi down on his lapel "as a symbol that LGBTQ muny Florida is distrs.

‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL: FLORIDA SENATE PASS NTROVERSIAL LGBTQ SCHOOL MEASURE

" In addn to the “Don’t Say Gay” bill Florida, 15 other bills are unr nsiratn eight stat that would lim speech about LGBTQ inti classrooms, acrdg to PEN Amerin, a nonprof group that advot for ee speech. Three stat passed siar bills last year — monly referred to as "no promo homo" laws — that allow parents to opt stunts out of any lson or ursework that mentns sexual orientatn or genr inty, acrdg to GLSEN, an advocy group that aims to end LGBTQ discrimatn tn.

Print Joe Bin has prevly rebed Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill, vowg to "fight for the protectns and safety" of LGBTQ youths.

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

In the likely event that Florida’s Parental Rights Edutn bill — the legislatn wily known as the “Don’t Say Gay” proposal — be law, no one actually knows the full extent of the behavrs forbids. Unr current law, the Don’t Say Gay bill isn’t jt vague, is unnstutnally vague. ” If Keyishian remas good law — and there is no guarantee that the US Supreme Court’s Republin supermajory will apply Keyishian fairly to an anti-LGBTQ law — then Florida’s Don’t Say Gay bill do not clear this bar.

The Don’t Say Gay bill, by ntrast, would take effect on July 1 if signed — one year before requir the Edutn Department to update s standards to provi guidance on how to ply wh the bill.

The Don’t Say Gay bill also an enforcement scheme remiscent of Texas’s SB 8 abortn ban: Unr the bill, parents n brg private lawsus agast school districts that vlate the ban. Settg asi the qutn of whether any Florida teacher has actually told a stunt to wa to “pick your genr, ” the Don’t Say Gay bill do a whole lot more than simply require teachers to provi more rmatn to parents. Suppose that a third gra stunt asks a teacher who the hight-rankg openly gay official is the US ernment.

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

Or what if the book has no openly gay characters but a parent reads the book and nclus that has homoerotic unrton? As mentned above, one problem wh the Don’t Say Gay bill is that don’t fe what nstut “classroom stctn. Havg laid out this cricism of the Don’t Say Gay bill, I want to be precise about what the Constutn do and do not allow.

) But has to offer more clary regardg what is and is not allowed than the Don’t Say Gay bill provis. Fally, and most signifintly for the future of the Don’t Say Gay bill, an unnstutnally vague statute may be rcued if urts or other bodi wh the power to terpret a statute narrow s meang and offer addnal clary about what sort of behavr forbids. Florida’s urts, other words, might rcue the Don’t Say Gay bill om a lawsu claimg is unnstutnally vague by providg clear fns for terms like “classroom stctn” and “age appropriate” that would allow a person “of mon telligence” to terme what sort of stctn is allowed and what kd of stctn is forbidn.

The state Edutn Department uld potentially do so as well, when gets around to updatg s standards to expla how teachers n ply wh the Don’t Say Gay bill — although, aga, is possible that state urt judg will reject the standards and substute their own terpretatn of the Don’t Say Gay bill’s language. In the meantime, any parent uld potentially sue their kid’s school district if a teacher even allus to the ncept of homosexualy a classroom discsn.

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

So even if the Florida Supreme Court effectively rewr the Don’t Say Gay bill to make nstutnal, the rewrten law uld still be que awful for LGBTQ stunts and teachers. One other worrisome thg about the Don’t Say Gay bill is that there is no guarantee that the Supreme Court will enforce cisns like Keyishian that rtrict excsively vague laws, at least when enforcg those cisns would go agast many of the nservative jtic’ sense of moraly. It’s unclear whether the void-for-vaguens doctre will receive the same selective treatment if LGBTQ rights groups voke to challenge Florida’s Don’t Say Gay bill.

‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL: FLORIDA SENATE PASS LAW MARGALIZG LGBTQ+ PEOPLE

Psaki said Print Bin is as horrified as she is about the legislatn, which Democrats ll the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

Takg his cue, every idt Democrat, woke rporate and Hollywood celebry has malicly characterized the bill as “anti-gay. Florida Senate Democrats lked arms and marched around nonsensilly chantg, “Gay, gay, gay, gay, gay!

OPPONENTS CALL IT THE ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL. HERE’S WHAT IT SAYS.

Thanks for rmg me of the plat om the German people- I had no tentn of vlatg the Network Enforcement Act & am relieved to learn that tweetg the word "gay" 69 tim wh a rabow emoji is NOT subject to removal unr the @Twter l or German law ❤️-mh — Mark Hal (@HalHimself) March 9, 2022. The measure, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by s opponents, was passed by the state Hoe last month and now heads to Republin Gov.

Parents n sue school districts for alleged a tearful addrs to the Senate on Monday, Democrat Shevr Jon, the first openly gay Florida state senator, urged his lleagu to narrow the bill’s language to say stctn should not be “tend to change a stunt’s sexual orientatn or genr inty. ”“I ask that you open up your hearts jt a tad b, ” he said, notg the name-llg and shunng he had faced as a gay man.

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.

FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL IS CEL AND DANGERO

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.

HOE PASS SWEEPG GAY AND TRANSGENR EQUALY LEGISLATN

“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.