What is 'Don't Say Gay' bill? White House slams Florida Republicans over controversial proposal
The White House has criticized Florida Republicans after they proposed a bill to ban discussions of sexual orientation or gender identity in the state’s schools. In a statement, a White House spokesperson said, “Every parent hopes that our leaders will ensure their children’s safety, protection, and freedom.”
“Today, conservative politicians in Florida rejected those basic values by advancing legislation that is designed to target and attack the kids who need support the most – LGBTQI+ students, who are already vulnerable to bullying and violence just for being themselves,” it added.
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What is the 'Don't Say Gay' Bill?
The name “Don’t Say Gay” bill has been given by the activists to the legislation after it got initial approval from Florida senators on Tuesday, February 8. The bill is about “requiring district school boards to adopt procedures that comport with certain provisions of law for notifying a student’s parent of specified information; requiring such procedures to reinforce the fundamental right of parents to make decisions regarding the upbringing and control of their children in a specified manner.”
The bill, sponsored by Republican Senator Dennis Baxley, also mentions “prohibiting a school district from adopting procedures or student support forms that require school district personnel to withhold from a parent specified information or that encourage or have the effect of encouraging a student to withhold from a parent such information; prohibiting a school district from encouraging classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a specified manner, etc.”
Baxley has even defended his actions and said, “some discussions are for (having) with your parents. And I think when you start having sexual-type discussions with children, you’re entering a very dangerous zone. Your awareness should pop up right away, this isn’t teaching.” He also added that the new policy won’t attack private conversations between teachers and individual students.
But Senator Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton, did not seem convinced as she argued, “So, I think the challenge here (is) when you put words on paper in a bill, it makes it really difficult to distinguish between private discussions as a friend with a teacher and what you’re saying, they have to call the parent or they’re going to get sued. I would encourage a look back at these words, because I don’t think it’s making it clear what you’re trying to get at.”
Zebra Coalition executive director Heather Wilkie added: “We want to send our kids to school and know they are going to be healthy and happy and thrive in an environment where they're happy and it's just an unnecessary hateful bill.”
Meanwhile, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also seemed to take side with the bill as he said, “My goal is to educate kids on the subjects, math, reading, science, all the things that are so important. I don’t want the schools to kind of be a playground for ideological disputes.” He also added: “I haven’t looked at any particulars of anything but I do think you’ve seen instances in which kids are encouraged to be doing stuff with like a gender ideology and I think the parents really do need to be involved in that.”