BREAKING NEWS: Settlement waters down Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill
Officials with Equality Florida this afternoon (Monday, March 11) announced “an historic settlement agreement with the state of Florida that “puts an end to some of the most dangerous impacts” of the state’s notorious “Don’t Say Gay bill.
Signed into law in March 2022 by Florida’s anti-LGBTQ governor and failed presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill initially banned instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity in public school grades kindergarten through third grades.
The measure was expanded to cover all grades last year. Immediately after DeSantis first signed the measure into law, Equality Florida and Family Equality joined forces with parents, students and teachers from around the state to file a lawsuit challenging the law.
Today, the state settled that suit with the plaintiffs. According to an Equality Florida press release, the settlement: restores the ability of students and teachers to speak freely about LGBTQ people, families and issues in the classroom; states that the law does not prohibit books, musicals or plays featuring LGBTQ characters; reiterates that the law does not prohibit anti-bullying guidance or resources aimed at improving the mental and physical health of LGBTQ students; clarifies that the law does not require the removal of safe space stickers or the elimination of safe spaces, and protects gay-straight alliances/genders-sexualities alliances as an extracurricular activity.
