TALLAHASSEE, FLA. (WSVN) - The Parental Rights in Education state legislation, better known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, has passed the Florida Senate Education Committee, as supporters and opponents continue to voice their views.
The controversial bill would stop Florida school districts from encouraging classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity from age 3 to third grade and give parents the right to sue a school district.
The bill’s sponsor, State Sen. Dennis Baxley, and State Sen. Shevrin Jones, the first Black and openly LGBTQ person to serve in the state legislature, on Tuesday discussed whether conversations involving a student’s family would be prohibited.
“This doesn’t address that. This addresses having a curriculum, procedure, agenda. This is not about ordinary conversations,” said Baxley.
“Thank you, Senator Baxley, and with all due respect, if you don’t mind, the bill doesn’t make mention of curriculum. The bill makes mention of conversations,” said Jones.
Last Tuesday, demonstrators in Wilton Manors gathered at the Pride Center at Equality Park to protest the bill.
Opponents of the bill said divulging a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity to parents, whether a student gave consent or not, among the bill’s other provisions, would send the wrong message to children who are already shown to be at a higher risk for bullying and suicide.
Many in Tallahassee voiced opposition on Tuesday.
“Seems like you guys care if it’s born and has a heartbeat, but God forbid it should be a lesbian or gay or trans or a member of that community,” said Kimberly Cox, the co-founder of Women’s Voices of Southwest Florida. “You don’t care about their heartbeat then, do you?”
However, there was support during the public comments.
“These situations are not hypothetical. The parental violations that are occurring are occurring all over our state,” said a supporter. “In September of 2020, I found out that the school formed a transgender support plan with my daughter, behind closed doors with three school officials, without notifying me.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he supports the bill.
“I do think you’ve seen instances in which kids are encouraged to be doing stuff with a gender ideology, and I think the parents really do need to be involved in that,” he said.
A statement from the White House issued on Tuesday said Republicans behind the Florida bill and others like it are trying to regulate what students can or cannot read, learn or be.
It reads in part, “Just imagine what it would feel like to be a kid watching the leaders in your state bully you through legislation that tries to erase your existence. These types of attacks are the root cause of the mental health crisis that too many LGBTQI+ children face. The President … won’t stop fighting for the protections and safety they deserve.”
The vote in the Florida Senate committee was 6-3 along party lines.
There is another bill making its way through the Florida house. That one centers on kindergarten through fifth grade instead of pre-K to third.
Once legislators iron out the differences between the two bills, they’ll move to the House and Senate for a final vote.
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