EDUCATION|CULTURE
Did You Just Say That As A Teacher I’m Not Allowed To Talk About Being Gay?!
Sad, but true…another giant leap backward with the passing of this bill in Florida
Early in the afternoon, while reading news updates on my phone, I had to do a double take. No, it was not over the skyrocketing gas prices (that was yesterday — around $9/gallon here in Germany).
It was the new Florida bill that made my eyebrows shoot up!
Don’t Say Gay
Are you serious!??
Florida lawmakers passed a bill referred to by its opponents as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which bans teachers from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom to young students. Governor Ron DeSantis has signaled that he will sign the bill into law while critics say the bill unfairly targets LGBTQ youth.
I am a teacher and I teach kids as young as third grade. Some of which very well could have parents who are gay — or at the very least might see a gay couple walking hand in hand on the street.
But by law, they are now forbidden to mention anything about being gay in class.
What kind of message does that send??
The Florida Senate passed the bill Tuesday, and it now goes to Gov. Ron DeSantis’s desk. It’s the latest effort by Republican lawmakers to remove the teaching of LGBTQ issues from schools.
Florida’s Senate bill reads, “A school district may not encourage classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels,” according to the text.
Ben Siemon, an actor and writer whose credits include Disney’s DuckTales, posted an impassioned video plea calling for Disney to say the bill is wrong.
Siemon credits one of his middle school teachers for helping him understand that it was OK to be gay. Had there been a bill like the one being considered in Florida, Siemon says, “That would’ve never happened to me. I would’ve been left alone and scared. And LGBT kids are going to be left alone and scared and hurt by this bill.”
Siemon implored the company to stop supporting those politicians, ending with the words, “Disney, please say gay.”
Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to sign the measure, which would bar teachers from teaching these topics to children under 10 years old.
Critics say the bill will isolate LGBT youth. Proponents say it is about empowering parents on education issues.
Activists have dubbed it the Don’t Say Gay bill. It is officially known as the Parental Rights in Education Bill.
The Republican-backed legislation passed on Tuesday.
It prohibits any instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity between kindergarten and third grade — when students are roughly between five and nine years old. It also calls on school districts to avoid LGBT topics “when not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students”.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Tuesday decried the passing of “hateful legislation targeting vulnerable students”.
President Joe Biden and his administration are “with LGBTQI+ students everywhere”, she wrote on Twitter.
From the same BBC article:
Critics say that vague language in the law could result in teachers and students being prevented from discussing their lives even outside the classroom.
“This is really about making it impossible for LGBT young people to speak for themselves,” said Nadine Smith, the executive director of advocacy group Equality Florida.
Todd and Jeff Delmay — one of the first same-sex couples to get married in Florida — say this bill would make it impossible for their 11-year-old son Blake to talk freely about his dads.
“We have fought and won these battles to adopt children and to be a family and to be together,” Todd told the BBC. “And they are now trying to find every way in which they can erase us and our families.”
And the couple warned the bill could marginalise LGBT youth as they come to terms with their identity.
This is not okay.
It is more than okay to be gay and kids of all ages should be allowed to talk about it.
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