‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill passed by Florida House of Representatives
Bill banning discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in primary school classrooms receives 69-47 vote
Words: Jamie Tabberer; picture: Pixabay
Florida’s controversial ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill is one step closer to becoming law after passing through the House of Representatives on Thursday (24 February).
The proposed legislation, which would ban discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in primary school classrooms from kindergarten to grade three, passed with a 69-47 vote.
The ‘Parental Rights in Education’ bill will now move to the State Senate.
“A right to library books that reflect who they are”
Florida governor Ron DeSantis expressed support for the bill earlier this month.
Nadine Smith, executive director of non-profit Equality Florida, told the BBC: “Every child has a right to speak honestly about their lives, a right to have access to a history that is honest and includes them, and a right to library books that reflect and include who they are.”
Smith, who is a mother and LGBTQ, added: “What we are seeing is the systematic erasure, or elimination of those resources for young people and a gag order imposed on educators.”
Homosexuality was only formally legalised in Florida in 2003.
DeSantis previously told reporters at an event in Miami that it was “entirely inappropriate” for teachers to discuss sexual orientation and gender identity with students.
As per NBC, he claimed he’d heard of teachers telling pupils “don’t worry, don’t pick your gender yet”, adding: “The larger issue with all of this is parents must have a seat at the table when it comes to what’s going on in their schools.”
US President Joe Biden has slammed the bill as “hateful.”