“Florida has already endured nearly two years of banning books, leaving educators, and having Safe Spaces stickers removed from classroom windows in response to this law that cynically targeted the LGBTQ+ community. “Florida Equality Executive Director Nadine Smith said in a statement. . “This settlement is a major step toward repairing the immeasurable damage these laws and dangerous political rhetoric have caused to our families, schools, and nation.”
Under the terms of the settlement, The law itself remains, but The country must make it clear “It restricts classroom instruction on specific subjects, namely 'sexual orientation' and 'gender identity,' but not 'mere discussion of them.' The law also does not apply to library books, where many books are banned.
The State Board of Education is now required to send instructions to all 67 Florida school districts detailing the requirements of the settlement. Parents and LGBTQ+ organizations filed a lawsuit in April 2022 over parental rights in the education law.
The DeSantis administration described the settlement as a “huge victory” as the ban on sexual ideology instruction in public school classrooms remains in place. But critics argue that little is actually taught about the subject in schools, and that the law's most significant impact is how much fear it has created about mentioning LGBTQ+ people in the classroom. I've long argued that there is.
former Republican presidential candidate He defended the law as his way of “standing up for parents.” He condemned what he called “woke indoctrination” in schools and said the state had a responsibility to protect children from “woke gender ideology injected into the curriculum.”
“It's inappropriate and it's not what we want for our school system,” DeSantis said after signing the law in 2022.
Opponents of the law say it is vaguely written, so most school districts in the state interpret it to mean banning discussion or symbols of LGBTQ+ themes, such as rainbow flags. The result was that. Teachers were advised to remove family photos that showed homosexuality, and student organizations such as the Gay and Straight Alliance were suspended. At least one school district canceled anti-bullying classes because some of the scenarios involved gay students.
The law stipulates penalties such as suspension or revocation of teaching licenses, and schools also accept lawsuits from parents who feel that teachers are violating the law. Lawmakers expanded it to include all grades in 2023. Lawyers said Monday that the settlement also covers all grade levels.
Educators in the state said lessons about gender ideology are not taught in elementary schools, but supporters of the law say DeSantis has removed safe space stickers and books depicting LGBTQ+ relationships. He said it was part of the indoctrination he wanted to eliminate.
The law, which quickly became known as the “Don't Say Gay Act,” was opposed by President Biden and others, including the former CEO of the Walt Disney Company, calling it a “hateful law.” did.
After Disney criticized the law and vowed to fight it, DeSantis directed lawmakers to consider eliminating the special tax district that Disney has had for 50 years. The Republican-led Congress passed a law dissolving Disney's board of directors, and Disney sued, but a court recently upheld the law. A board of DeSantis appointees currently runs the district.
Mr. DeSantis harshly criticized Disney as well as other critics of the law. In a statement Monday declaring a victory for the settlement, the governor's office said “Governor Ron DeSantis stood up to the activists and extremists who came together to denigrate and block the law.”
“We fought hard to ensure that this law was not vilified in the courts just as it was vilified in public by the media and big corporations,” DeSantis general counsel Ryan Newman said in a statement. Ta. “We won. Florida classrooms will continue to be safe spaces under the Parental Rights in Education Act.”
But some see it as a victory for teachers and LGBTQ+ families. One of the most hotly contested issues surrounding the implementation of this law concerned library books. Titles like “And Tango Makes Three,” which tells the story of two male penguins; It was difficult to form a family together, and in some cases they were pulled back from library shelves. The settlement could invalidate those challenges.
“For years, the DeSantis administration has refused to clarify vague and punitive laws, resulting in library collections that include LGBTQ people being removed and classroom discussions about our existence being censored. , there was an exodus of teachers, both gay and straight, from the teaching profession,'' said former state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, who voted against the law when he was in the state House. “This will not undo the tremendous damage already caused by this hateful law, but it is a major step toward repairing the damage.”
