The State of Florida has made more waves than even the ocean can keep up with. The "Don't Say Gay" bill, also known as the Florida Parental Rights Act, was passed on March 28th of 2022. The backlash has been brutal and it is clear from the variety of news articles you can read that people are heated about it on both sides.
The bias here is quite clear as well as the feelings, making it difficult to even find out what the bill directly says. I usually only need two sources for each blog, but this time I need three.
According to flgov.com, "Parental Rights in Education, which reinforces parents’ fundamental rights to make decisions regarding the upbringing of their children." Essentially, it allows parents to have a more direct role in their children's education. There are rules in place such as not teaching students about sexual orientation or gender identify until 3rd grade and what is appropriate for certain ages to learn.
Buzzfeed Contributor Hallie Lieberman released an article with stories of teachers in Florida schools taking down anything deemed political, including posters, flags and stickers. Most of the articles are quotes from teachers primarily in Sarasota County, sharing their feelings as well as the feelings of the students. It explains how upset it makes them and how drastic everything in their diverse school has changed.
"“Anything that could even remotely be construed as gay-related came down. It wasn't me putting this stuff up. It was the kids. It was their classroom too,” Foreman said. “Rainbows now symbolize politics.”(Lieberman, 2022).
It is not until later in the article that details about what the bill is actually called and what is in it is given.
The Federalist also had strong feelings in their article, published by Eddy Scarry. Let me show you the title and you can decide how Scarry feels about this.
The beginning of the article is full of jabs about Chasten Buttigieg during the debate of the bill, shortly before its passing. He is described to have "waddled" into the room. The writer debunks the idea that this is an anti-LGBTQ bill by saying "it has as much to do with being gay or transgender as it does with being heterosexual. Which is to say, it has nothing to do with any of those things."
He goes on to say the details of the bill and the reasoning behind the bill's creation.
"As background, the reason for the law is because a mom in Tallahassee very recently was told by administrators at her young daughter’s school that she could not view health records related to her own child, who was apparently expressing confusion about being female." (Scarry, 2022).
He says that it does not limit teachers who are a part of LQBTQ from being truthful about who they are but rather rather not making it a point of education until it is deemed by parents to be appropriate. He ends with mentioning that he is a gay man himself, but did not mention it to be nephew until he was at an age where he could fully conceptualize the idea to answer questions on the matter.
To round this up...
Both articles show heavy bias in one direction or another. Topics like this are controversial based on the views of the different parties. Would I recommend these articles? Honestly, no. If you want to learn more, I would visit flgov.com to get more information.
Scarry, E. (2022, April 29). Don't let buttigieg near your children, says nonexistent desantis law. The Federalist. Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://thefederalist.com/2022/03/31/dont-let-gay-chasten-buttigieg-near-your-children-says-nonexistent-desantis-law/
Lieberman, H. (2022, November 18). Florida's LGBTQ students and teachers are losing safe spaces to its "Don't say gay" law. BuzzFeed News. Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hallielieberman/dont-say-gay-lgbtq-students-schools-florida
NBCUniversal News Group. (2022, October 19). A national 'don't say gay' law? Republicans introduce bill to restrict LGBTQ-related programs. NBCNews.com. Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/national-dont-say-gay-law-republicans-introduce-bill-restrict-lgbtq-re-rcna53064
Governor Ron Desantis signs historic bill to protect parental rights in education. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://flgov.com/2022/03/28/governor-ron-desantis-signs-historic-bill-to-protect-parental-rights-in-education/
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