(Photo from flsenate.gov)
The Florida Senate passed SB 1834 — Parental Rights in Education, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, March 8 by a vote of 22-17.
Democrats were joined by Republicans Jeff Brandes and Jenn Bradley in voting no on the bill. The bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis for signature.
“Today, Governor Ron DeSantis and Tallahassee Republicans sacrificed the wellbeing of LGBTQ+ students in order to appeal to the most radical parts of their base,” said Democratic state Sen. Annette Taddeo in a statement. “Despite their claims, SB 1834 directly targets the LGBTQ+ community. Multiple amendments were introduced by members of both parties that would have improved this terrible bill by broadening its language to remove the insidious language which targets LGBTQ+ students in our schools but those were all rejected. These students already do not receive enough support in schools and this bill will only lead to more anxiety, fear, isolation, and depression. Under Republicans’ watch, Florida has become the least affordable state in the nation. Instead of creating solutions to problems that don’t exist and hurting our children in the process, we should be helping families all across Florida that are being priced out of their homes and communities.”
The “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which passed the Florida House of Representatives Feb. 24 by a vote of 69-47, looks to forbid discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in school classrooms for certain grade levels. The bill states that a parent would be able to sue a school district for violations.
The proposal has drawn intense national scrutiny and has served as the one of the latest battlegrounds between the White House and DeSantis, who is widely considered to be a potential 2024 presidential candidate and indicated he will sign the bill if and when it came to his desk.
Florida LGBTQ leaders, activists and students have been protesting the proposed bill, with students staging walkouts throughout the state. A student from Flagler Palm Coast High School was suspended March 3 for distributing Pride flags at one of the protests.
“Let us be clear: should the vague language of this bill be interpreted in any way that causes harm to a single child, teacher, or family, we will lead legal action against the State of Florida to challenge this bigoted legislation,” wrote Equality Florida in a series of tweets March 8. “We will not allow the governor’s office to call us pedophiles. We will not allow this bill to harm LGBTQ Floridians. We will not permit any school to enforce this in a way that endangers the safety of children.
“We stand ready to fight for Floridians in court & hold lawmakers who supported this bill accountable at the ballot box. At every turn, the legislature rejected reasonable amendments to this legislation and refused to mitigate its harm. Now, in deference to the extreme political agenda of [DeSantis], the Senate has passed the hateful Don’t Say Gay bill and sent it to his desk.
“Lawmakers rejected the voices of tens of thousands who sent emails and made phone calls asking for them to put a stop to this bill, thousands of courageous students who walked out of class, hundreds of people who testified before their bodies, dozens of child welfare organizations and leaders who spoke up to name the harms of the bill, and their own Republican colleagues who refused to support it. Instead, they locked arms with the angry mobs hurling anti-LGBTQ slurs at those asking for nothing more than a safe place to go to school without having to hide who they are. Our fight continues.”
If signed, the law would go into effect July 1.
