On Feb. 22, 2022 Florida’s House of Representatives passed a bill nicknamed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill which prohibits "classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity" in the state’s primary schools. It passed with a vote of 69-47.
Some Florida representatives have stated that the bill is about empowering parents within their child’s education and giving them a say in what their schools do. However, the bill also ensures parents’ access to their children's health records. It requires that schools notify parents "if there is a change in the student's services or monitoring related to the student's mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being and the school's ability to provide a safe and supportive learning environment for the student."
It was followed with an explicit exception that allows schools to withhold this information if they believe releasing it will result in abuse, neglect, or abandonment by the student’s parents.
Adding this statement has made it clear to some, like Florida representative Carlos Smith, an openly gay man and LGBT activist, that it’s eliminating a student’s ability to speak to faculty in a confidential manner about their gender or sexuality. It requires schools to ‘out’ students to their families which should be a decision left up to the individual or shared with the child’s consent.
While this is distressing for many within the LGBT community, the educational side of the bill is also a problem. It is not clear about what age groups are included under this bill, outside of primary school children. “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
This last part leaves schools and teachers, or faculty, open to lawsuits because it is not specific about what is age appropriate. With the state’s move to further include parents in their student’s education, parents may have differing opinions about what they believe is age appropriate for their kids.
Another problem with this bill is that it does not seem to be addressing an actual issue within Florida public schools. During Equality Florida’s coverage of the final hearing for the bill they tweeted that during questions, Senator Dennis Baxley did not know what lesson plans are being used to educate children on sexual orientation and gender identity or if there were any.
This bill will not make students feel any better about themselves or their safety. In 2021, the Trevor Project found that 42 percent of LGBT youth reported seriously thinking about suicide, a rate about four times higher than their heterosexual or cisgender peers.
The bill has been very controversial with many other states, and President Joe Biden himself, speaking out against the bill and its attacks on LGBT students. Those in opposition to the bill have claimed that one of the worst things this bill is doing to LGBT youth is its teaching them and their peers that there is something wrong with LGBT topics.
"We are in distress because this bill is yet another attack on our community," Smith said in an interview with NBC News. "This bill goes way beyond the text on its page. It sends a terrible message to our youth that there is something so wrong, so inappropriate, so dangerous about this topic that we have to censor it from classroom instruction."
President Biden’s response stated, “Every parent hopes that our leaders will ensure their children’s safety, protection, and freedom,” the statement read. “Today, conservative politicians in Florida rejected those basic values by advancing legislation that is designed to target and attack the kids who need support the most.”
LGBT organizations have echoed this statement emphasizing that the bill does not address a real problem and is more fear-stoking than anything else. Additionally, while it gives parents more control over their child and their child’s education, it strips a student’s right to safety and privacy within their schools. Schools are supposed to be environments where students feel safe and respected, even if they do not feel that way at home. This bill is explicitly taking that away from LGBT students.