In his nearly 30-minute campaign speech before the anti-LGBTQ, anti-abortion, evangelical Christian group Concerned Women for America, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis lashed out at the left as he defined his war on “woke.”
Focusing on what he calls “parents’ rights,” DeSantis presented a long list of actions he has taken as Florida’s governor against LGBTQ people, including children, while furthering a Christian nationalistic agenda.
“In Florida we have made sure that the rights of parents are reflected in the laws of the state of Florida. You as a parent have a fundamental right to direct the education and upbringing of your children. Schools are important. Other parts of our society are important but that does not supersede the role of parents.”
Claiming that the government ensuring parents don’t deny a transgender child’s right to self-identify “is an assault on parents’ rights,” DeSantis called it “an attack on the American family,” promising that “in the state of Florida those policies are dead on arrival.”
“Now part of parents’ rights is you know, you should have the right to send your kid to the school of your choice regardless of your income. And in Florida, we’ve enacted universal school choice. You want to send your child to a Christian school you have every right to do that with scholarships that we have,” DeSantis bragged.
READ MORE: DeSantis’ School Voucher Program Gives Parents Taxpayer Dollars for PlayStations and Paddleboards
In Florida taxpayers now pay for parents to send their children to religious schools.
“You also have a right as a parent to know what is being taught in your child’s school and in Florida. we’ve ensured parents have those tools, he said.
“They’re trying to jam adult material and pornography. There’s books like this ‘Gender Queer,’ which is totally unacceptable to have. Now the media so we’ve given parents the right to go in and say, you know, no, that’s not consistent with Florida standards. That should not be in my fourth grader’s library. And so it gets removed.”
“I can tell you in Florida you can buy whatever book you want as an adult. You know if you want to be doing this type of adult material, you know, don’t jam it in an elementary school classroom. Do it on your own time. Go watch Hunter Biden’s laptop for all I care, I don’t know what you do. Just keep it away from our kids please.”
“Also with parents’ rights is that the purpose of schools is to educate kids not to indoctrinate kids,” DeSantis said. “We’ve eliminated critical race theory in our K through 12 schools.”
“We’ve also eliminated gender ideology from our K through 12 schools. It is wrong to tell a second grader that they were born in the wrong body or that their gender is a choice. It’s unacceptable and it’s not happening. First of all, it’s false. And it’s also unacceptable that they’re trying to do that.”
DeSantis said that Florida is “one of the first states in the country to sign legislation protecting women’s sports in our state. We’ve also enacted protections for women so that they can use bathrooms and locker rooms without having boys and men in their locker room.”
“And we’ve been the first state in the country to prohibit teachers in school from forcing students to choose pronouns. We’re not doing the pronoun Olympics in the state of Florida, not going down that road. And why is some of this even necessary.”
DeSantis then shared his thoughts on “woke.”
“I think it’s all rooted in the left’s ideology. I think it’s rooted in the woke agenda. This is a mind virus that is taking over institutions. And some people say that we should leave woke alone. Don’t worry about it. You know, they say who cares? I don’t know what it is all this stuff. Let me tell you, there is value in standing up for what is true. And what woke agenda is, is it represents a war on the truth itself.”
“Don’t tell me a man can become a woman because it’s not true. Don’t tell me a man can get pregnant because it’s not true. And we’re not going to root our society and things that are false. The truth will set you free.”
Watch a short clip of DeSantis’ remarks below or at this link.