President Joe Biden has condemned as ‘hateful’ to LGBT students a Florida bill that would ban discussion of sexual orientation in primary schools.
According to the BBC, activists have dubbed it the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill and warn it will stigmatise LGBT people and issues. Proponents say the legislation is about protecting parental rights.
Governor Ron DeSantis has signaled his backing for the measure and it appears to have enough support to pass through the state’s Republican-led legislature.
Biden stepped into the debate with a Twitter message to the LGBT community, ‘especially the kids who will be impacted by this hateful bill’, with an undertaking to ‘continue to fight for the protections and safety you deserve’.
At a news conference earlier, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said: ‘Every parent hopes that our leaders will ensure their children’s safety, protection, and freedom. Today, conservative politicians in Florida rejected those basic values by advancing legislation that is designed to target and attack the kids who need support the most.’
The BBC reports that state laws that ban or constrain the discussion of LGBT life in classrooms sometimes referred to as ‘no promo homo’ laws, are not uncommon in the US.
Several were introduced in the 1970s and 1980s, closely correlated with anti-gay rights activism at the time, but many have long been repealed.
Currently, four US states – Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas – have laws on the books that expressly prohibit or limit sex education to heterosexual activity.
The report says that, last year, Tennessee and Montana passed laws that allow parents to exclude their children from school discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Florida bill goes a step further, allowing parents to directly sue schools districts and seek damages if they believe an educator has broken the law.
Governor DeSantis, a Republican widely touted as a possible 2024 White House contender, said schools should avoid ‘entirely inappropriate’ topics and instead be teaching science, history, civics and other lessons.
‘The larger issue with all of this is parents must have a seat at the table when it comes to what’s going on in their schools,’ he said.
LGBT advocates warn, however, that the legislation will harm the mental health of LGBT youth and undermine their existing protections under the law while moving the people of Florida away from a more inclusive school environment.