Florida students are getting an unfortunate lesson in institutional bigotry as they return to the classroom this school year, as the state’s “Parental Rights in Education” law, a.k.a. the “Don’t Say Gay” law, continues to do damage.
Next up on the chopping block? The Miami-Dade School Board — representing the state’s largest district — will soon vote on whether teaching LGBTQ history is “age appropriate” for high school seniors.
The nine board members will decided whether Miami-Dade schools are allowed to include two landmark LGBTQ rights supreme court cases in 12th-grade social studies classes. They’ll also vote on whether the district, responsible for educating over 334,000 students, will recognize October as LGBTQ History Month.
Related: Val Demings continues to kick major ass in Florida and Marco Rubio is no doubt running scared
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The cases in question are Obergefell v. Hodges and Bostock v. Clayton County, which grant the right to same-sex marriage and prohibit employers from discriminating against workers on the bases of sexual orientation or gender identity, respectively.
While the board may vote in favor of including the cases in its classes, the fact that it’s even up for discussion says a lot about how vague and open to interpretation the Don’t Say Gay law is.
School board member Lucia Baez-Geller is already speaking out in favor of keeping the important lessons in schools.
Related: Florida ups the ante on ‘Don’t Say Gay’ just one week into the new school year
“Teaching LGBTQ history fosters a welcoming school climate where LGBTQ students, families, and educators can live their authentic lives and be treated with dignity and respect,” she wrote in an action proposal.
“The District appreciates and recognizes the importance of LGBTQ History Month as an effective means of educating and calling to action our community to work together by fighting prejudice and discrimination in their own lives and increasing visibility and raising awareness,” Baez-Geller added.
But in July, the district rejected two proposed sex education textbooks, citing concerns they violate the state’s law.
Prism, a Florida nonprofit working to expand LGBTQ resources in schools, launched a Change.org petition to urge the board to vote yes.
Related: Florida teen warned not to ‘say gay’ during graduation speech finds perfectly shady solution
“In light of the harmful anti-LGBTQ laws passed this year, it is abundantly clear that MDCPS must remain steadfast in supporting and affirming all students,” the petition reads.
“The recognition of LGBTQ History Month promotes education about the historical impacts, achievements, and contributions of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community.”
Elsewhere in the state, teachers have been instructed to remove signage indicating a classroom is a “safe space” for LGBTQ students and photos of their families if they have a same-sex spouse. Some schools have even told educators to out their students to parents. The law was signed by Gov. DeSantis in March.
Last week, a group of Florida teens and their families, along with LGBTQ advocacy groups, asked a federal judge to block the law’s enforcement, citing First Amendment, due-process and equal-protection rights violations.
kish
Florida isn’t working. Tear it down and start over.
Doug
Flush it down the toilet.
abfab
If I was a Floridian teacher or student or just a resident, I would ignore these laws on every level and encourage others to do the same. Someone please tell me what they would do to me and other rebels like myself? I suppose I’d need $$$$$ for lawyers, but so what. What can they do to me? Thanks in advance to those in the know.
kish
I suppose if it’s a mandate, the state could take away your teaching certification if you don’t comply.
As far as students are concerned, they might receive a consequence, like a suspension, being disinvited to school functions, or, down the line, face expulsion. It may disrupt their education, but does creating an unsafe space. And none of it really matters when you’re fighting for your right to exist.
cartartist
Some of us are doing what we can. Nothing overtly. We refuse to out students despite the law telling us we have to. And, we keep our rooms as safe spaces despite the district removing our safe space stickers. We have allies. We just need enough teachers outraged about the Parent Bill of Rights and enough LGBT Q population to get out there and vote him out of office in November.
taraboud
A lot of us have spouses and children on our health insurance, imagine if we lose our jobs we could kill our family.
Imagine we’ve trained our whole life to be teachers, and we lose our license because we said it’s okay to be gay, and then we’re forbidden from teaching ever again.
Imagine we’re sued under this new bill in which if a student feels uncomfortable with our subject we could be pain for decades because the emotional distress we created in a sensitive White student, by saying that there is systemic racism, classism, or other people that still are oppressed under the current system.
So yeah you’re saying fight it and say this, we’re dealing with losing our entire livelihoods. Minimum rent around here is $1,500 a month, replacing our teaching jobs with fast food jobs just won’t cut it.
It’s easy for you to be all Brave and Noble when you don’t actually have to put your livelihood and family on the line for it.
We are finding ways to fight. But we have to keep our jobs in order to do so.
Brian
You don’t have to present this as a hypothetical situation. Teachers have already been punished. Resistance might seem noble, but that ignores the realities and logistics of needing a job to pay rent and other bills.
abfab
Well anyone can tell from your words that you are not a fighter, which is what this calls for.. ”resistance MIGHT seem NOBLE” ? Are you effing kidding me?
James
Brian, thanks for you brilliant insight……. Yawn.
Prax07
How no one hasn’t beaten DeSantis about the face with a nail studded two by four yet is beyond me.
CNY1983
thats just because they dont want to make him look better.
Kangol2
Now, now, let’s avoid the calls for violence, even in a joking manner. Far better would be to vote him and the GQP out of office and keep voting to keep them for wielding power the way they do.
Vince
To all the trolls right here that tried to justify the don’t say gay bill. It’s just limited to pre schoolers and such. It was always meant to open the door to full on discrimination. All you had to do was look at who was backing it.
LumpyPillows
Of course the bill was a political hack job intended to empower school districts to attack. Still does not change the fact that the looney left opened the door for it with their really crazy social engineering that went too far. Excluding parents from information on their children and providing transition support to children is a bridge too far. Usually a little gay boy is just a little gay boy and not a girl. Certainly some nutty, out of their depth teacher should not be opining about.
James
Lumpy Pillows, go back to your de satanis fan club creep.
LumpyPillows
James, Just what do you understand about what I wrote that defends DeSantis? Seriously, you aren’t intelligent to understand a nuanced comment, you really should refrain from proving it.
dbmcvey
It makes total sense that Lumpers is a conservative. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is a Trumpist too.
LumpyPillows
db can’t read either.
dbmcvey
Hey TrumpyPillows, you seem not to know what “read” means.
LumpyPillows
I said from the start that the problem with the law was the clause where local school boards got to decide. It was not the intent of the law or what it said about protecting kids and parental rights, it was the blank check it gave to school boards to set policy.
Let’s see what Miami-Dade does… Worse, it’s what the Podunk districts have done or will do that really is concerning.
All of this is a response to some really brain-damaged things the looney left did. Yes they were small and isolated attacks on rationality, but these are the repercussions to their nonsense. Ultimately we all pay for pushing liberal theology too far.
James
GET LOST LOSER. UNCLE TOM. NAZI SYMPATHIZER.
James
DE SATANIS IS NOTHING BUT NAZI TRASH.
LumpyPillows
CALM DOWN James. Learn to read.
LumpyPillows
Also, JAMES, be a nicer human. You might feel better.
LMG
Are you the same person as the “Pillow Guy”?
dbmcvey
This is your brain on Trump.
LumpyPillows
I wish our team was smarter…you guys can’t read and your comments are worthless. You add no value to any conversation because all you do is be nasty. Real shame. If you read better you might learn something.
dbmcvey
You know TrumpyPillows, if that many people “can’t read” what you wrote–it’s probably that what your wrote doesn’t mean what you thought you were writing.
johncp56
I can not you all are going to have to fill in the blanks!@#$%&^(*^%$##@!$#^%$*&(* the guy and his followers are the worst of what we have, shameless hate,
missvamp
voting him out on helps head him toward the presidency. so that just gives us an even bigger problem. the gop loves desatan. if he can’t destroy florida he’ll go for the whole country. so we have to find a way to bring him down as a political entity. we have to end his entire career.
Boybussy
I’ve got video of DeSatan getting a bj from Milo K…. IT’S HILARIOUS!!! Talk about sloppy…!
Consider This
It seems obvious DeSantis cares deeply about the LGBT community – just not in a good way.
abfab
FLORIDA WILL NOT WIN. THE PEOPLE WILL WIN! DO NOT SIT BY! PLEASE. act up!
dbmcvey
Do they know that the internet already exists?
LMG
Why does DeSantass always look constipated?
Invader7
Because he is.
Invader7
DeSantis has those evil tightly wound Adolph Hilter pupils. He always looks so mean and twisted. LIke he’s permanently pissed off & constipated…