Life

‘Don’t Say Gay’ amendment forcing schools to out students withdrawn as bill advances further in Florida

By Conor Clark

23rd February 2022

YouTube [ABC Action News]

A Republican legislator withdrew a controversial ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill amendment that would have seen students forcibly outed by schools.

The bill, which is part of a Parental Rights in Education proposal, was altered by Rep Joe Harding on 18 February.

His now-withdrawn amendment stated that “the school principal or his or her designee shall develop a plan, using all available governmental resources, to disclose such information within [six] weeks after the decision to withhold such information from the parent.”

This would have been done “through an open dialogue in a safe, supportive, and judgement-free environment that respects the parent-child relationship and protects the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of the student,” the amendment stated.

On 22 February, prior to legislators in Florida debating House Bill 1557 (HB 1557), Harding withdrew the amendment following global outrage at its contents.

The same day, the state’s House Republicans advanced the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, meaning it is now set for a final vote in the House.

Republicans rejected an array of Democratic amendments and President Joe Biden has publicly condemned the bill’s “hateful” nature.

During the debate, Harding said: “The idea that somehow within this bill we are preventing a teacher from having discussions with their students is just incorrect.”

“Discussions about the different types of families, maybe an instruction relating to different types of families understanding that gender and sexual orientation relating to those students and getting deep into that part is exactly what we’re talking about,” he added.

“Nowhere in here are we eliminating a discussion about the different types of families. I think that’s probably the biggest misquote on what the bill actually does.”

However, LGBTQ+ activists are fearful that if HB 1557 and its companion Senate Bill 1834 are signed into law, they could have the power to totally limit any discussions or lessons on identity, the community’s history and the oppression it has faced – prompting its ‘Don’t Say Gay’ nickname.

Rep. Carlos G Smith, Florida’s first LGBTQ+ Latino legislator, told his Democratic caucus that despite the removal of the “sinister, malicious, unconscionable amendment” the bill is still not “OK at all in any way, shape or form.”

Ron DeSantis, Florida’s current governor who is rumoured to be a 2024 presidential candidate for the Republicans, has not yet endorsed the bill – though has made comments suggesting that discussions of gender identity should not be taking place in school without parental supervision.