In the bill’s early stages, Harding filed an amendment that would have in effect required a school to inform parents if a student came out as LGBTQ+ to a teacher, renewing widespread condemnation. You’ve failed,” said state senator Jason Pizzo, a Democrat. “We have failed as a legislature if hundreds of kids stand outside screaming for their rights and you can’t explain to fifth-graders and sixth-graders and eighth-graders simple definitions of your bill. Dozens of students and advocates flooded committee rooms during the early stages of the bill process and then packed the halls of the legislature as it moved toward final passage, often with chants of “We say gay!” Statewide, the bill has sparked protests and student walkouts. “They’re your kids, and it is tough – it’s tough to figure out what influences will be on them and what kinds of decisions they will make and how that all comes out.”ĭemocrats have often said the bill’s language, particularly the phrases “classroom instruction” and “age appropriate”, could be interpreted broadly enough that discussion in any grade could trigger lawsuits from parents and therefore could create a classroom atmosphere where teachers would avoid the subjects. I want to encourage parents across Florida to own it,” said state senator Dennis Baxley, a Republican who carried the bill in the senate. “I know how important it is to empower parents in this relationship. The bill would not bar spontaneous discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools but instead is intended to prevent districts from integrating the subjects into official curriculum, Harding and supporters have said. Parents would be able to sue districts over violations.Ī Republican state representative, Joe Harding, who sponsored the measure, and other GOP lawmakers have argued that parents should be broaching these subjects with their children, rather than educators. The bill states: “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade three or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.” I see it as exactly the opposite,” said state senator Tina Polsky, a Democrat. Tell me how this bill is helping us create kind, giving, tolerate adults. “What we really need to be doing is teaching tolerance, caring, loving, anti-discrimination, anti-bigotry.
Since its inception, the measure has drawn intense opposition from LGBTQ+ advocates, students, Democrats, the White House and the entertainment industry, amid increased attention on Florida as Republicans push culture war legislation and DeSantis ascends in the GOP as a potential presidential candidate.
Under this bill, parents can also decline any mental, emotional and physical health services available to their children at school, and schools will be required to notify parents of their child's use of school health services unless there is reason to believe "that disclosure would subject the student to abuse, abandonment or neglect.The proposal, which opponents have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, now moves to the desk of the Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, who is expected to sign it into law.
The legislation states that the Florida Department of Education would have to update its standards in accordance with the requirements. "We will make sure that parents can send their kids to school to get an education, not an indoctrination," DeSantis said before signing the bill Monday. The bill bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade and states that any instruction on those topics cannot occur "in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards," according to the legislation, HB 1557. Ron DeSantis has signed the Parental Rights in Education bill, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill by critics.