‘It’s had a chillg effect’: Florida teachers anx about ‘don’t say gay’ bill | Florida | The Guardian

gay teacher of the year

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‘I’M AAID TO RETURN TO THE CLASSROOM': A GAY TEACHER OF THE YEAR SPEAKS OUT

He spoke to Edutn Week about teachg as a gay man ral Kentucky—and why recent efforts to rtrict rights for LGBTQ stunts are dangero. I have always been as gay as anythg uld be, but my first year of teachg [upon the pletn of a master’s gree, 2010], I uldn’t be. You will not get a teachg license if you’re openly gay.

I’ve been openly gay. I'm a proud gay man, I am the 2022 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, and I'm aaid to return to the classroom.

KEV SPACEY: I N’T TELL WHETHER MEN ARE GAY JT BY LOOKG AT THEM

Osr-wng actor Kev Spacey has said he is attracted to mascule men but is not able to tell whether someone is gay jt by lookg at cross-examatn durg his trial on sex abe charg, the Hollywood star nied he was a “sexual bully” and told the jury he did not have a “power wand” to make people want to sleep wh about his sexual preferenc, Mr Spacey said he had prevly had romantic enunters wh men who would not scribe themselv as homosexual. I don’t know if someone is gay or straight by lookg at them. After about a the classroom, he was named the bt tor Kentucky September 2021 -- but at the same time, he said, a small but vol mory his ral town Montgomery County went after, who is gay, told ABC News that he was sgled out for actually protectg LGBTQ kids his school and their fai, which ma him a said that earlier this year, a muny member who was postg about him on social media also repeatedly went to unty school board meetgs to report predatn and so-lled child "groomg" -- a term that has bee popular nservative circl for allegatns of adults sexually manipulatg said this person, who had not named him at the board meetgs but repeatedly referenced him by name onle, also "doxxed" him and some of his stunts on Facebook by sharg their private, acrdg to Carver, he and some stunts' parents asked Montgomery County Supertennt Dr.

"Many crics labeled the "Don't Say Gay" bill. Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights Edutn bill -- which don't specifilly e the word "gay, " though broadly rtricts talk of sexualy and genr -- to law earlier this year rponse to "woke genr iology. "Joshua Block is a staff attorney wh the Natnal ACLU’s Lbian Gay Bisexual Transgenr & HIV "We need to be teachg them to read or wre, to add, to subtract, " he said -- addg that "the purpose of our schools is to te kids not to doctrate them.

"This is the exact oppose of what we need, " Kryk, a gay fifth-gra teacher outsi of Tampa, told ABC News. He intifi as gay. Before the bill was passed, some Democrats unsuccsfully attempted to make more specific -- rtrictg stctn on sexual activy rather than orientatn, for though many who spoke wh ABC News said they are disappoted the law's lack of clary, some gay teachers don't see an issue wh .

GAY TEACHER OF THE YEAR FANS LGBTQ PRI IN VIRAL PHOTO WH DONALD TMP

Pancholy's Stonewall Honor-wng novel "The Bt at It" follows 12-year-old Rahul Kapoor, who is not only figurg out his cultural inty as an Indian-Amerin but is also jt begng to realize that he might be gay. And so what's next: gay marriage? Gay teacher Nikos Giannopoulos’ displayed his LGBTQ pri as he sported a rabow p and clutched a lacy fan an official photo wh Print Donald Tmp and first lady Melania Tmp.

A parent plaed to the school, sayg that Bailey was “promotg the homosexual agenda, ” acrdg to urt documents. “She’s talked about how she’s a gay teacher, a dited gay teacher, and they put her through a lot of pa, but she is hopeful that some of the provisns of the settlement will make Mansfield ISD a more tolerant place for LGBTQ people. “The judge this se led that gay teachers are protected by the Constutn.

CG ANTI-GAY DISCRIMATN, A TEACHER OF THE YEAR LEAV THE CLASSROOM

That’s a precent that will protect every gay teacher this untry. Kentucky’s 2022 Teacher of the Year, who is gay, says he is leavg the K-12 classroom “to make the most difference, and the discrimatn and lack of support prevent me om makg that difference. ”In May, Carver told a Congrsnal submtee that he faced discrimatn as a gay teacher and that hatred was the norm schools.

“I try not to speak so much and make , ‘Oh, 's a gay issue, right? After beg openly gay for several years, Willie Carver Jr. Courty Willie Carver said that after chang his school’s admistratn, he was eventually able to teach openly as a gay man.

The word “groomg” has long been associated wh mischaracterizg LGBTQ people, particularly gay men and transgenr women, as child sex abers. In recent months, nservative lawmakers, televisn punds and other public figur have acced opponents of a newly enacted Florida tn law — which crics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law — of tryg to “groom” or “doctrate” children.

‘IT’S HAD A CHILLG EFFECT’: FLORIDA TEACHERS ANX ABOUT ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL

Advot have been urgg public officials not to e the charged rhetoric, warng that uld lead to verbal and physil harassment agast LGBTQ said verbal attacks agast him ntued onle, wh one member of the group postg imag of him and LGBTQ stunts on social media upled wh homophobic ments and slurs. ”Throughout the last year, school officials across the untry have banned books about gay and trans experienc, removed LGBTQ-affirmg posters and flags and disband Gay-Straight Alliance clubs. In school districts throughout the untry, stunts have attacked their queer classmat, while state legislators have filed a historic number of anti-LGBTQ bills — more than 340, acrdg to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocy group — many of them seekg to refe lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer stunts’ plac U.

Michael Woods, a high school special tn teacher Palm Beach unty, Florida, wh 30 years of experience teachg and who grew up as a stunt the area who was bullied for beg gay, said he cried the night before this school year began Augt 2022 bee of anxiety related to Florida’s “don’t say gay” bill that went to effect July 2022. “As a gay teacher, as a queer male, ’s been paful for me, ’s been very paful and very upsettg, ” said Woods.

FIRED GAY TEACHER WS LAWSU AGAST CATHOLIC SCHOOL AND DCE

“The bills are all based on false pretens, they’re li, they’re based on li, they make assumptns that somethg is happeng our schools area, that teachers are somehow doctratg our stunts, teachg them to be gay, or whatever the se may be, ” said Andrew Spar, print of the Florida Edutn add: “I thk the biggt thg gog to the school year is the unknown, bee this bill and the other bills that are out there, give parents the abily to brg plats agast teachers, brg lawsus agast school districts, and we jt don’t know how ’s gog to play out.

”Ron DeSantis, the ernor of Florida, signg the ‘don’t say gay’ bill March 2022. A North Carola gay teacher who was fired om his job as a substute at a Catholic high school has won his sex discrimatn se fedral urt. Today’s cisn validat that I did nothg wrong by beg a gay man.

KENTUCKY’S 2022 TEACHER OF THE YEAR QUTG OVER ANTI-GAY DISCRIMATN

“The fendants [the school and the archdce] said that they fired Billard not bee he was gay, but rather bee ‘he engaged “advocy” that went agast the Catholic Church’s beliefs’ when he publicly announced he was marryg another man, the lg said. Carver ttified before Congrs May that he has “always faced discrimatn as a gay teacher. Kentucky’s 2022 teacher of the year, Willie Carver Jr., is leavg his K-12 post for a universy job, cg anti-gay discrimatn.

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

Carver, who ttified before Congrs May that he’s “always faced discrimatn as a gay teacher, ” told the outlet he’s makg the transn due to vol discrimatn at school board meetgs. Durg Kristal Torr’s sophomore year of high school, she transferred om an all-girls Catholic school to a ed public high school.

Sanford, a teacher who was openly gay. “I grew up an upper middle class, relig area Oh where didn't really feel like gay people existed. I had iends theater who were gay, but I didn't see any exampl of what life would be like as a gay adult.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Fired Gay Teacher Ws Lawsu Agast Catholic School and Dce - New Ways Mistry .

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