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Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law officially takes effect July 1

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:


  • Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, formally known as Parental Rights in Education law, will officially take effect today, July 1st.
  • The law has already had an impact on public school educators.
  • GOP lawmakers argued that the law aims to empower parents but Democrats and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups say it is “intentionally vague” and a big step backward for equality.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in April that rates of suicide in Florida had increased faster than in other states between 2019 and mid-2021. Florida health officials have acknowledged that the state’s LGBTQ+ youth face increased rates of mental health challenges and suicidal thoughts.

Democrat Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith said those data have been largely ignored by GOP lawmakers in Florida, who make up the majority of both the House and the Senate. Republicans also have control of the governor’s office.

“There’s no acknowledgment whatsoever from Republicans in Tallahassee or Governor DeSantis that LGBTQ students are vulnerable and at risk,” Smith told Changing America in an interview.

The law’s critics are concerned about its potential impact on the mental health and well-being of LGBTQ+ youth in Florida. They are also concerned about whether the bill violates the First Amendment rights of public school teachers and students.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law in March. Under the measure, public primary school teachers are banned from engaging in classroom instruction related to sexual orientation or gender identity. 

The Parental Rights in Education law officially takes effect today.

Public school educators through high school under the law are not able to address either topic in a manner that is not “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate” for their students.

In House and Senate hearings through early March, Republican lawmakers backing the measure evaded questioning that would have clarified what is meant by “classroom instruction,” leaving it up to the interpretation of school districts.

Florida’s Department of Education will have until next summer to develop new rules that define that and other parts of the law, such as “age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate” instruction.

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Smith said he believes the measure is intentionally broad so as to chill the speech of public school teachers fearful that they may unintentionally violate the law.

Should that happen, parents may choose to take legal action against school districts, as is their right under the measure.

Topics related to sex education, which some state lawmakers have equated with sexual orientation and gender identity, are not taught in grades K-3, according to Sunshine State Standards.

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Currently, sex education in Florida does not begin until the fifth grade, Spar said, when health instructors are required to give a one-time lesson on bodily changes that students may be experiencing because of puberty.

Lessons about sexual orientation or gender identity are not part of the curriculum, he said.

In emailed comments to Changing America, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Joe Harding (R), said the measure had successfully prevented “far-left school districts from trying to sexualize our children.”

“Florida is no longer just the freest state in the country, it is now the most pro-parent state as well,” he said.

In March, Harding during a television interview with ABC affiliate WPLG in Miami said he had introduced the bill because he had been notified of multiple instances where educators of students as young as kindergarten were teaching lessons about “gender theory and gender identity.”

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Source: The Hill

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4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. Mike Tracy

    July 1, 2022 at 6:26 pm

    It’s completely irrational and in violation of the United States Constitution to give gay people or gay kids or gay teachers a right of free speech to indoctrinate other children of any school age with sex orientation or sexual preferences or any perversions these mentally ill people have, and at the same time these mental freeks want to, and have successfully stripped the right of free speech from anyone who contests their despicable perverted mental illnesses. If one person or group of persons has a right to free speech, then other persons or groups have the same right to contest anything that was pronounced or displayed by another person or group. So children have every right to contest or make jokes or fun of other children that they don’t agree with. Even though the approach is really not a rational way to solve an incredibly rapid growth of homosexuality, it is a legal and effective approach to the problem. Children under their teenage years are extremely susceptible to adult influence by their parents and their teachers. When children are exposed to other confused children who are gay or trangender, and the parent or parents or teachers openly show and confirm these mentally confused children are normal and should be loved by everyone, it confuses and indoctrinates more children into thinking they will get more attention and be loved more if they exhibit trangender or gay behavior as well. All children mature to be a product of the environment they were raised, in one way or another. This dilemma the country faces with indoctrination from public displays of gay pride parades without opposition or even negative comments is unconstitutional. Other children see this flashy parade and want to be part of it because it looks like fun, and consequently, more children become gay. It’s a dilemma that has a “catastrophic future.” There should be no public displays of gay behavior, especially gay pride parades, without the same right of free speech that displays public opposition. A far better approach to the dilemma is to individually offer children mental help and keep their problem low-key instead of parading the perversions and infecting other childrens minds with the perversions of homosexuality. No LGBTQ individuals or groups have a constitutional right to free speech without opposition. Free Speech includes free speech of opposition! The reason this perverted mental disorder of homosexuality is growing so rapidly is because liberal democrats flip out and cry racist when they hear any opposition.

  2. Robert Page

    July 3, 2022 at 7:22 am

    Since when do these queers get preferential treatment. Frankly, I and many others could not care less what they do in their bedrooms but we draw the line when they want to give us the finger in public and try to pass their sickness to our children. Putting them back in the closet they came from is not the worst idea I ever heard.

  3. CharlieSeattle

    July 3, 2022 at 6:58 pm

    A leftist lie is now promoted on this site. “Don’t Say Gay” is NOT in the Law!

  4. maxine

    July 4, 2022 at 7:22 pm

    Sex education in fl. that was done in fifth grade back when my children were in schools was not indoctrination as this is. It was basic, telling the youngsters about puberty changes. I did that with my daughter at home. This is coaching children to become trannies and to encourage sexual perversion according to how some of us feel.

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