The bill's proponents, however, insist that it won't prevent children from discussing their LGBTQ families or bar teachers from engaging students in spontaneous discussions about sexual orientation or gender. Republican-backed legislation, co-sponsored by Harding, would limit discussion of LGBTQ issues in public schools. Joe Harding, right, and other Florida state congressman recite the Pledge of Allegiance on Nov. Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat who is gay, told lawmakers in the House before the measure passed. "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," Rep. President Joe Biden called it "hateful" in a tweet last month. It states that "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." A parent could sue a district for violations.ĭemocrats have pushed back against the proposed legislation, and U.S. Republicans in the Florida House of Representatives on Thursday passed the "Parental Rights in Education" bill, which critics call "Don't Say Gay." It will now go to the Florida's Republican-controlled Senate floor. That will make my little daughter feel bad about herself, her life, her parents…. It will make have, you know, scarring mental health issues that we can't even predict right now." Bill bans anything not deemed 'age-appropriate'
"Imagine being in a classroom where your family doesn't exist, your elected representatives have erased you from history, literally out of the books," the father from Land O' Lakes, Fla., told As It Happens guest host Helen Mann. But he says that's exactly what will happen if Florida passes legislation to restrict the discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom.
Brandon Hensler doesn't want his four-year-old daughter to feel like an "other" when she starts school next year just because she has two dads.