Opponents labeled it the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, a derogatory description that much of the media immediately adopted.
But nearly two years after its passing, Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act will be upheld by a court following a settlement between the state and activist attorneys, the governor’s office said.
A press release from Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on March 11 announced “a major win against the activists who sought to stop Florida’s efforts to keep radical gender and sexual ideologies” out of the public school system for kindergarten through third grade.
According to his office, a “mutually agreed settlement” was reached with attorneys who were appealing the dismissal of their lawsuit. They had claimed in the 11th Circuit Court that the law was unconstitutional.
The settlement appears to be a matter of clarification. It explains that students and teachers can speak freely about gender identity and sexual orientation in Florida classrooms. However, the topics still can’t be part of classroom instruction.
Enacted in 2022, the statute most notably prohibited classroom instruction on sex and gender in grades kindergarten through third grade and mandated that for older pupils, conversations needed to be “age-appropriate.”
The law has been criticized in part for alleged confusion over whether LGBT-identifying teachers could be open with their students, such as being able to put up a rainbow in their classroom or show a picture of their same-sex relationship.
Critics also raised concerns about how the law could affect anti-bullying rules based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
“Frequently carrying water for the activists, the media wrote countless stories lying about the intent, design, and application of the law,” the governor’s office stated in the release. “The activists carried these same lies into the courtroom—thankfully, to no avail.”
Under the settlement, the Florida Board of Education will send instructions to every school district clarifying that the law does not prohibit discussing LGBT people nor does it prevent anti-bullying rules based on sexual orientation and gender identity, nor does it disallow gay-straight alliance groups.
The extra instruction also clarifies to schools that the law is neutral in that it applies to both LGBT people and heterosexual people, and it does not apply to library books being used outside of the classroom.
‘A Safe Place’
“We are victorious, and Florida’s classrooms will remain a safe place under the Parental Rights in Education Act,” Mr. Newman said.“This shouldn’t be a controversial thing.”
But nothing was re-established, according to the governor’s director of communications, Bryan D. Griffin. No new allowances or concessions were won.
Coverage of the settlement largely touted it as a win for the opposition rather than the DeSantis administration. For instance, National Public Radio affiliate WMFE in central Florida ran this headline: “Settlement rolls back large parts of Parental Rights in Education Law.”
“This law, the Parental Rights in Education Act, is about instruction,” he said. “They lied when it was a bill, parroting activist scare tactics that it could somehow punish student-to-student conversation (”Don’t Say Gay").
“Now that the activists lost in court today (the law remains in effect), they run a headline like this, making it seem like something has changed. It hasn’t.”
