America
Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Law Never Even Mentions Gays
It simply says 7-year-olds are too young to learn about sex at school.
F BY MARISA HERMAN
rom the associated press wires to saturday Night Live, corporate media went all out to brand a Florida new parents’ rights Act as a discriminatory “Don’t Say Gay” law.
But the Parental Rights in Education law doesn’t even
mention the word “gay.” It also doesn’t prevent conversations related to sexual orientation and gender identity from taking place in schools. “While the left and the cor-
porate media continue to lie about Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill, HB 1557, Florida Republicans haven’t stopped working to protect par- ents and children,” Heritage Action Executive Director Jes- sica Anderson said. “Nothing in the law bans the
word ‘gay’ or censors schools. It simply protects grades K-3 from sexualized instruction and bolsters parents’ rights to know what’s going on in their chil- dren’s lives at school.” But if you read a headline
about sexual topics should not be controversial in the least.” Florida’s Republican-controlled legislature passed the bill,
which prohibits official instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity from taking place in classrooms from kin- dergarten through third grade, was signed into law by Gov. DeSantis in late March. As the bill worked its way through the Sunshine State’s
about the education law on ABC News, the Associated Press, CBS News, NBC News, or other mainstream media outlets, you may think otherwise. Such outlets labeled the legislation as the “Don’t Say Gay”
UNDER FIRE Demonstrators gather at the Florida State Capitol in March against the Parents’ Rights bill claiming it demonized LGBTQ people after numerous media outlets branded it “discriminatory.”
political process, it came under fire from a coalition of LGBTQ-aligned groups, the White House, and celebrities who claimed it would marginalize and censor the LGBTQ community. President Joe Biden tweeted that the bill was “hateful.” Sec- retary of Education Miguel Car- dona issued a statement when the bill passed blasting the “lead- ers in Florida [who] are prioritiz- ing hateful bills that hurt some of the students most in need.” The law actually states: “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kin- dergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropri- ate or developmentally appro- priate for students in accor- dance with state standards.” When a journalist referred
to the legislation with the “Don’t Say Gay” label pushed
by Democrats, DeSantis responded by slamming the media for “pushing false narratives” about the bill. “The idea that you wouldn’t be honest about that and tell
bill, pushing a narrative that it targets the LGBTQ community: “‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Passes in Florida, Goes to Governor” (AP) “Florida Just Passed the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill” (Time) “Disney C.E.O. Takes Stance on Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill” (The New York Times) “Kate McKinnon Rips Into Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill on ‘SNL’” (NBC News) “Florida Governor DeSantis Defends Controversial ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill” (CBS News) “In fact, it doesn’t single out any sexual orientation or gen-
der identity — it applies to all discussion of sex and gender in grades K-3,” said Christina Pushaw, press secretary to Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Florida. “The idea that it’s inappropriate to instruct 7-year-olds
28 NEWSMAX | MAY 2022
people what it actually says is why people don’t trust people like you, because you peddle false narratives,” he told the reporter.
Republican Florida state Rep. Joe Harding, who intro-
duced the bill, told the ABC News podcast Start Here that a “school district doesn’t need to insert themselves” into discus- sions about gender when children are “still learning how to read and do basic math.” The law, which would allow parents to sue districts over
any reported violations, also requires schools to notify par- ents if a student is exhibiting changes to their health or well- being, allows parents to request their child’s student records, lets parents refuse school healthcare services, and mandates schools to seek parental permission for health screenings.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
