On March 28, 2022, Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into the Parental Rights in Education bill into law. The Act now bars instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through the third grade. Critics had dubbed it the “Don’t Say Gay” bill which in turn suddenly sparked a national war of words, particularly among the LGBTQ community. On top of which, the legislation created opposition by Florida’s Disney World against Governor DeSantis. This has led to the Florida legislature to vote to undo the special district that Disney operates in, potentially affecting Disney’s ability to build new attractions, creating potential hiccups in transitioning to many of its current public services and increased expenses for Disney — which could mean higher prices at the gate. The resulting economic impact could be massive.
What is even more important is the impact on the rights of LGBTQ parents and gay or transgender students. Much of the justification put forward for such laws is that it protects the rights of parents, who by all concerned are non-LGBTQ parents. Those opposed to the law argue that the Act centers around whether it would prohibit the “instruction” or “discussion” of sexual orientation. Critics of the law say its language “classroom instruction,” “age appropriate” and “developmentally appropriate” is overly broad and subject to broad interpretation. Consequently, teachers might opt to avoid the subjects entirely at all grade levels for fear of being sued by parents as now permitted under the law. Opponents of the law also say that banning lessons about gender identity and sexual orientation marginalizes LGBTQ people and their presence in society. DeSantis appears to love playing with smoke and mirrors. Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association, said the law is nothing more than a political wedge issue for Republicans. He notes that elementary schools, especially in kindergarten through third grade, currently don’t even teach these subjects, much like “critical race theory”.
Moreover, there is little recourse left open to LGBTQ parents or students other than filing complaints with federal officials when they believe they are experiencing discrimination in school. Subsequent to the bill’s passage, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said that his agency “will be monitoring this law upon implementation to evaluate whether it violates federal civil rights law.” However, as everyone knows, such processes can often take years to implement, leaving LGBTQ parents and students in the lurch and prone to harassment.
Florida is not the only state that considered such a law, as a number of other conservative states have moved in a similar direction. Take for example Alabama. There you have the second openly gay lawmaker, Neil Rafferty, sitting in the state legislature. As a Democrat, he has spent much of his current term in the Alabama Legislature working to prevent new restrictions on gay and transgender young people. Mr. Rafferty appealed to his colleagues and constituents with Republican proponents on the basis of their conservatism, arguing that they had no business involving themselves in the decisions of parents, doctors and children. “Where’s the freedom in that?” he asked. “Where’s small government in that?”
Indeed, there appears to be a fair amount of hypocrisy in the current legislative push by Republicans aimed at protecting some parents’ rights, to the detriment of other parents with different values and circumstances. It’s obvious that this sudden obsession with eliminating any instruction on sexual orientation — including the LGBTQ history in American — and the banning of related reading materials from libraries is nothing more than a political ploy aimed at securing votes from the social conservative rank and file. But at whose expense and which freedoms?
With so many more important issues to be concerned about today, does one really need to be sidetracked in this manner? The mental wellbeing of all students, including LGBTQ students, needs to be addressed, especially in light of the negative impact of the pandemic on their education. Surely, legislators have better things to do than to play politics with children’s lives and those of their parents!
FROLITICKS 
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