Via Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Twitter feed
With — apparently heterosexual — children in suits and ties surrounding him, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill into law today (Monday, March 28).
The bill is described as a parental rights laws that allows parents to sue school districts that teach any lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity. But even if teachers avoid talking about gay, lesbian or trans, it’s likely students will receive some lessons in heterosexuality and being cisgender. And they can be sued for that because the law specifically states gender identity and sexual orientation and everyone’s got one of each.
Also dangerous in the new law is schools may out their LGBTQ students to their parents or guardians, which may lead to even more child abuse (the real kind, not the Greg Abbott kind), neglect and being forced from their homes and a higher suicide rate.
The new law also allows parents to decline mental health and medical care offered by schools for their children. One protection the school has is that even though it must report any medical care the child accesses in school, the school may decline to report to the parent if they believe it puts the child at risk.
DeSantis defended the bill by saying people who oppose the bill “support sexualizing kids in kindergarten.”
— David Taffet
