On Sunday, at the start of a week in which the Florida Senate was set to consider a nationally-watched law called "Don't Say Gay," the organization Equality Florida called "homophobic, transphobic" posted a statement condemning it. From the press secretary to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Christina Pusho tweeted on Friday in support of the bill, which would restrict certain conversations on LGBTQ issues in Florida's public school classrooms. This led to a scathing statement from Parallel Florida:
A spokesman for Governor DeSantis said out loud: This bill is based on the belief that LGBTQ people, just by the way, are a threat to children and should be eradicated. He called on Pushaw to speak his mind to the public. Chosen. He is the master of this unbridled hatred."
It is just the latest salvo in the Battle of HB 1557, which has attracted nationwide attention and protests across the state, and is considered one of the main "culture war" bills to be considered at the 2022 legislative session in Florida.
The bill is officially called the "Parental's Right in Education", but opponents have referred to it as the "Don't Say Gay" bill because of its potentially chilling effect in Florida classrooms regarding LGBTQ issues and students. .
The Rajya Sabha has already cleared the bill.
In the final days of the 2022 legislative session, the Senate will decide whether to address the concerns of Florida's LGBTQ youth and their allies, or whether to lead the discussion on sexual orientation or LGBTQ concerns, rather than teachers or other school workers, parents. rights should be supported.
Many proponents of the bill say it only advances protections for a parent's right to direct their child's upbringing, bolstering efforts by Florida's new law known as the "Parental Rights Bill". "It is called.
However, Pushav's particular Friday tweet did not highlight parental rights. Instead he tweeted:
His follow-up tweet says: "If you're against the Anti-Grooming Bill, you're probably a groomer or at least you don't condone grooming 4-8 year olds. Silence is collusion. It's like that Works, Democrats, and I didn't make up the rules."
Meanwhile, Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat who represents part of Orange County and is gay, tweeted on Sunday:
Pusa said in an exchange to other Twitter users on Sunday: "One hit dog howlers."
"Don't Say Gay" or "Parental Rights?"
HB 1557 Sponsored by Rep. Joe Harding in the House. He represents part of Levi and Marion counties. Sen. Dennis Baxley, Senate Sponsor, is a Republican representing the county in Central Florida.
The bill provides parents with an opportunity to sue if a school district withholds certain information from them about their child's well-being or if their child is exposed to instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity that is labeled "age-appropriate". is not considered.
Necessary parental access to information about a child's welfare has added to the concern. The LGBTQ community, for example, is concerned that students may be "taken out" to an unsupported family, potentially harming LGBTQ students.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has already indicated his support for HB 1557.
The governor said at Friday's press conference: "How many parents want their kindergartners to have 'transgenderism' or something injected into the classroom discussion?" DeSantis said. "I think they're too young kids. I think the legislature is basically trying to reassure parents that ... this stuff isn't going to happen."
Also: "This is basically saying to our youngest students - four year olds, five year olds, six years old and seven - do you really want them to be taught about sexu- And it's any sexual content. But I think clearly right now, we're focusing too much on transgenderism, telling kids they can be able to choose gender and all that," the governor said. .
But this is not exactly what the law says.
Bill's language actually reads:
According to bill opponents, the terms 'gender identity' and 'sexual orientation' target LGBTQ students, families and teachers.
In fact, two bipartisan attempts to clarify bill language to prohibit certain conversations about "sexual activity" and "human sexuality" were shot down at previous points in the legislative session.
Bill language is vague on what is "age-appropriate" in higher grades, and has been a moot point for LGBTQ advocates and some lawmakers, and could potentially create a chilling effect in Florida classrooms.
“The idea that teachers and students are talking about sexuality in an inappropriate manor is not true,” Representative Michelle Rainer told Phoenix during the first session. "I think there are so many intentions - some people say 'unintended' but I think this is the intention - the consequences that come with this bill."
Rainer is a Democrat in the Tampa Bay area and a lesbian woman.
She said parents have a right to know what their children are being taught in school but the bill's language alienates members of the LGBTQ community.
"You're isolating kids whose parents are the same sex, you're alienating teachers who love someone of the same sex, you're alienating kids who are trans. Identifying as I am," Rainer told Phoenix.
Feedback
On Thursday, hundreds of high school students across the state protested against HB 1557, one of which took place inside the Florida Capitol Building, where nearly a hundred students voiced their opposition to the bill and DeSantis's outside the House and Senate chambers. insulted.
According to LGBTQ advocates, there will be more protests.
Opponents also worry about what "classroom instruction" is and whether teachers' discussion with students on matters related to the LGBTQ community would be prohibited under the bill.
Emily Gray, a transgender woman with an advocacy group in Bay County, says that conversations about gender identity and sexual orientation should be a child-led discussion, meaning that if a child wants to talk So a teacher should be able to attend to it. discussion.
"Some kids are more cognitive about being on their own, and in this day age they have words," she told Phoenix last month. "I never had the words to explain the feelings I had, so the kids didn't really talk about it. But kids these days do it, and that's what they (supporters of the bill) are trying to stop... I think they have this idea that if they don't talk about it their kids should know about it. Wouldn't know, and so they wouldn't become trans, or gay, or lesbian, or whatever.
She continued: "I don't think there should be any special teaching sessions at that age ... to let them know that it's perfectly normal and okay ... their (a teacher's) role should be the same as it is now. If the child talks about it, they should be able to have a fact-based answer or discussion with the child. The kid is trying to discuss it with them."
National picture
The bill has attracted national attention. HB 1557 was dubbed a "disgusting bill" by President Joe Biden on Twitter in early February.
The American Bar Association wrote on February 17 that they oppose provisions in the bill because "they would undermine the well-being of LGBTQ students and stifle beneficial faculty speech."
Meanwhile, Log Cabin Republicans, an organization representing LGBTQ conservatives, is fine with the bill.
In a January 27 press release, Log Cabin Republican President Charles Moran said of the bill: "All it does is reinforce the general belief that discussions about sexual and gender identity in a teacher-led classroom are primary. It doesn't happen in schools."
HB 1557 will have to come into force before the end of the legislative session that ends on 11 March.
Some senators have offered amendments that address concerns about the bill, and the Senate will have the opportunity to approve or reject those changes.