PUNTA GORDA, Fla.–A proposal in Florida that would bar educators in the state from speaking about sexual orientation and gender identity to primary school students in ways that aren’t considered “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students” is on its way to the floor of the state Senate for consideration.
If approved by the full Senate and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, the legislation would become effective on July 1.
While critics have called the bill potentially harmful to LGBT students and children with LGBT parents, at a press conference in Jacksonville on March 4, DeSantis said the bill is about giving “no sexual instruction” to young children.
“When you actually look at the bill and it says ‘no sexual instruction to kids pre-K through [grade] three,’ how many parents want their kids to have transgenderism or something injected into classroom instruction?” he told reporters.
“It’s basically saying, for our younger students, do you really want them being taught about sex? And this is any sexual stuff. But I think clearly right now, we see a focus on transgenderism, telling kids they may be able to pick genders and all of that.”
Parents would also have greater authority to take legal action against school districts.
State Sen. Dennis Baxley, a Republican who sponsored the Senate companion bill, said during committee on Feb. 28 that he is “a guy who doesn’t hate anyone.”
“I am really amazed at how something so simple turned into this,” he said, adding that any accusation that the bill contains anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment was “fabricated by the media.”
“This does one simple thing—it decides who’s in charge,” Baxley said. “I’m not trying to demonize anybody; I’m not trying to negate the values of teachers. I’m just trying to come back to center point. Parents must be in charge of these decisions.”
Democrats disagreed, arguing that the proposal is discriminatory and a “solution in search of a problem.”
Democratic state Sen. Lauren Book, a former educator who taught for one year at an elementary school in Miami-Dade County Public Schools in the late 2000s, said during the Feb. 28 committee hearings: “I don’t ever remember telling my young students, ‘Don’t worry, you don’t have to pick a gender.’ I don’t remember teaching LGBTQ propaganda from secret lesson plans. And I don’t remember breaking any Florida law by telling a parent that they couldn’t review my lesson plans.
“Florida educators are not indoctrinating young children with age-inappropriate or developmentally inappropriate curriculum. These are professionals.”
Students from all over the state gathered on the Capitol steps in Tallahassee. Some were there to testify against the bill.
LGBTQ+ rights groups on Feb. 28 spoke out against the Senate committee’s passage of the bill.
“Removing LGBTQ people and topics from public schools will only work to further shame a group of young people who already face disproportionate rates of discrimination, bullying, and suicide attempts,” Amit Paley, CEO and executive director of The Trevor Project, said in a written statement.
“LGBTQ students and families deserve to see themselves reflected in the classroom. What they don’t deserve is stigma and censorship from the government.”
