Florida’s highly controversial and dangerous “Don’t Say Gay” bill could be voted on by the full Florida House as early as Tuesday of next week. A companion bill in the Senate is also being fast-tracked. GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis has signaled he supports the legislation.
The legislation forces school staff, including teachers, administrators, and even counselors, to report to parents all information related to a student’s “mental, emotional or physical health or well-being,” unless they know that that information could lead to abuse, as CBS News reports.
In other words, if a student even suggests they might be LGBTQ, parents by law would have to be notified. The bill adds an additional threat: parents can sue if any school official does not abide by the broadly-worded language in the legislation.
The legislation’s exceptionally broad language, mildly altered in committee Thursday, bans classroom instruction of sexual orientation or gender identity that is not “age-appropriate” or “developmentally appropriate” in the primary grades. It would send a dangerous signal that being LGBTQ is “wrong” or “bad,” and instill a chilling effect not only on students’ free speech but the very identities of children who come from LGBTQ homes or who are LGBTQ themselves.
A Columbia University study found that children – regardless of sexual orientation – raised in conservative areas are more likely to attempt suicide than those raised in more liberal areas.
Florida can generally be seen as more conservative than liberal, and many LGBTQ students might feel comfortable sharing that part of themselves with their classmates, but not with their parents.
The “Don’t Say Gay” bill’s author finds that exceptionally objectionable.
Welcoming next week’s expected vote and addressing the nationwide outrage his dangerous bill has generated, Republican freshman Rep. Joe Harding (photo) told The Tampa Bay Times he wants lawmakers “to go on record to say it’s OK for a six-year-old to have one identity in school and one at home because the school encourages that kind of behavior.”
“That kind of behavior” for young children – as well as teens – can literally be the difference between a roof over their head, food, in their stomachs, and clothes on their backs, or being physically and emotionally traumatized or even being kicked out of their homes.
Image of Rep. Joe Harding via Facebook