This week, the Biden administration denounced a bill being advanced by Florida Republicans that would ban the discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in schools. Critics call it the “don’t say gay” bill.
Supporters say the bill advances “parental rights in education” by allowing parents to sue public schools if topics come up they don’t want discussed. On Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis voiced his support for the bill and others focused on classroom teaching.
"In Florida, we're really working on transparency legislation. We want parents to be able to have access to what's going on in the classroom, and certainly it is inappropriate to be hiding these things from parents. They not only deserve a seat at the table — I don't think you can have an effective school system unless they have a seat at the table," the governor said.
'Anti-Wokeness'
One bill, HB7, was approved by the House Education Committee Tuesday along a party line vote 14-7. The bill is the legislative version of Gov. DeSantis' effort to take on what he has called "corporate wokeness and critical race theory."
It prohibits discussions in corporate training and in public classrooms regarding a list of what the proposal refers to as "principles of individual freedom." Among them is that "a person should not be instructed that he or she must feel guilt, anguish ... for actions in which he or she played no part."
Rep. Randy Fine (R-Palm Beach) voted for the proposal. "It forbids school districts to tell students that they should feel guilt or discomfort about acts that took place in the past because of their race or their sex or issues like that. It doesn't say students should feel uncomfortable. History will make people feel uncomfortable."
An earlier version of the bill included the word "discomfort," however an amendment eliminated that from the version of the bill approved by the House Education Committee this week.
Fine said he thinks the bill does not ban teachers from teaching difficult topics to students. "It doesn't prohibit teaching any materials about the Holocaust. Any materials about slavery are going to make people feel uncomfortable. It doesn't prohibit that," he said. "It prohibits teachers from telling students how they should feel about history. That is something we think has no place in Florida school."
However, the legislation states that "instruction and supporting materials ... must be consistent" on its six "principles of individual freedom." Those include not instructing someone to "feel guilt, anguish or other forms of psychological distress."
"These bills that are written in a way that's intentionally vague so as to not only have a chilling effect on how we teach about history, how we teach race, how we teach other cultures, talk about LGBTQ identities in our schools," said Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando). "It's really just going to impose censorship in our schools."
"Don't Say Gay"
A separate bill, HB 1557, would prohibit classroom discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in primary schools that is not age-appropriate.
"They want to prohibit conversations about LGBTQ people," said Smith. "They want to talk about what you can and can't teach. They want to censor who you can and can't be as a child. This is not what happens in free states. It's what happens in authoritarian regimes."
It was approved by the House Education Committee last month along party lines. It is now in the Judiciary Committee.
"LGBTQ people like myself," said Smith, "are a normal and healthy part of any society and any school. We exist in those spaces. Conversations about us, about who we are and what our families look like, are not dangerous conversations. They don't need to be censored. Suggesting that these conversations are dangerous or inappropriate sends a terrible message to some of our most vulnerable youth who need our support."
Fine sees the legislation much differently. "What we were talking about there is sex education should not be happening in elementary school."
The legislation bans schools from encouraging classroom discussions "about sexual orientation or gender identity" in elementary schools that are not age-appropriate. The phrase "sex education" is not found in the bill's language. Parents can opt their child out of sex ed instruction under a law passed last year.
Smith rejects the comparison that the bill addresses sex ed conversations. "That's not the case. We're not teaching kindergarten through third grade sex education. Conversations that simply acknowledge the existence of LGBT families as part of our community — they're always age-appropriate," Smith said.
School Books
A third bill would require school districts to have procedures to regularly review and remove books that don’t align with state education standards or are deemed irrelevant to curriculum. The House approved this legislation Thursday. No Democrats supported it.
"We want to create the opportunity for parents to to understand what's being used in schools," said Fine. "There are books that are being used that are that are, quite frankly, somewhat questionable and objectionable, and there should be a way for parents to get involved."
The legislation, HB 1467, would require school districts to post online a list of books and other material in school media centers.
These bills allow parents to file civil lawsuits against school districts they believe may be violating the regulations.
"We're standing up for parents and making it clear school districts work for parents, not the other way around," said Fine.
"The underlying theme here," said Smith, "is DeSantis trying to control what students can and cannot read, what they can or cannot learn, and who they can or cannot be. That's not what happens in free states."
