Dan Patrick says he will make a ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill a legislative priority in 2023
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who came to Fort Worth in 2016 to grandstand with a press conference denouncing the school district’s policies on who could use its public restrooms, is coming after LGBTQ students again, this time by promising to make a Texas version of Florida’s hateful “Don’t Say Gay” bill one of his legislative priorities in 2023. (Tammye Nash/Dallas Voice) Even though Florida’s new “Don’t Say Gay” law is already being challenged in court, and even though mental health experts have already said the Florida law and others like it could harm children’s mental health, Texas Lt.
Gov. Dan Patrick on Monday, April 4, declared that he intends to make passage of such a law one of his top priorities in the next session of the Texas Legislature, coming in 2023.
In case you haven’t heard about it yet, the Florida bill recently signed into law by right-wing Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis prohibits classroom lessons on sexual orientation or gender identity for kids below the fourth grade or any instruction that is not “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate” for older students.
And, like Texas’ new anti-abortion law, enforcing the Florida law is up to individuals: A parent can sue a school district for damages if they believe it has broken the law.
