Florida LGBTQ advocacy groups and lawmakers are gearing up for another uphill battle against Gov. Ron DeSantis and his fellow Republicans as the legislature appears poised to pass an expansion to the controversial state education law restricting talk of sexual orientation and gender identity in public school classrooms.
The state’s Parental Rights in Education measure, known to critics as “Don’t Say Gay” for its disproportionate impact on LGBTQ students and families, has been the law of the land in Florida for more than a year.
It bars public kindergarten through the third grade teachers from engaging in classroom instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity, and prohibits educators through high school from addressing either topic in a manner that is not “age appropriate or developmentally appropriate” for their students.
In February, 11 Florida House Republicans introduced legislation seeking to expand the law’s restrictions through the eighth grade and add provisions that block school districts from adopting policies that require transgender students to be addressed in accordance with their gender identity, even at the request of their parents.