Editorial: It's students who'll suffer under Florida law
ebar.comA court challenge is almost certain for Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill that Republican Governor and potential 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis signed March 28, although that doesn't mean the law will be thrown out anytime soon.
The Parental Rights in Education bill, or House Bill 1557, will not allow classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3, while "age-appropriate" teaching would be allowed in older grades — though it is not clear what is considered "age-appropriate." The bill would also permit parents to sue schools or teachers who violate the legislation; it affects public schools and goes into effect on July 1.Equality Florida, the statewide LGBTQ rights organization in the Sunshine State, noted that DeSantis picked a dubious venue in which to sign the bill. "Governor DeSantis chose Classical Preparatory school in Spring Hill, a charter school exempt from the bill's impacts, as the backdrop for signing the legislation that has provoked international condemnation," the organization stated in a news release. "Governor Ron DeSantis signed the 'Don't Say Gay' bill in the most cowardly way possible today," Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith stated. "He hid his agenda from the media and the public until the last moment, skulking onto a charter school campus that is exempt from the law and away from students who would protest his presence."There are problems with the new law.
As Vox reports, it does not define key terms like "age appropriate" or "developmentally appropriate." It doesn't even define the term "classroom instruction." "The insidiousness of Florida's law is that teachers who won't understand how to comply with the new law are likely to overcensor.
