Florida Senator Issues Apology After Saying 'Gay Is Not a Permanent Thing'
Senate floor that "gay is not a permanent thing.""As a Senator, and more importantly, as a life-long member of this community, I fully understand the responsibility and impact of words on others.
That's why I want to apologize to anyone I offended by my comments on the floor of the Senate during the debate on HB 1557, Parental Rights in Education," she said in a statement posted on Twitter.House Bill 1557, the Parental Rights in Education bill, passed in the Republican-controlled Florida Senate on March 8 after it was approved by the state's House of Representatives.Senator Garcia was discussing the bill ahead of the vote on March 8 when she stated, "Gay is not a permanent thing, LGBT is not a permanent thing—and it's not a bad thing.
This isn't at all about targeting. I think this is about rerouting the responsibilities back to the parents."In her statement on Thursday, Garcia clarified that her comments "in no way were intended to generalize or disregard the experiences of any member of the LGBT+ community.
I was trying to explain my very personal life experiences and did not properly articulate my sentiments."The legislation, which was dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill, prohibits discussing sexual orientation and gender identity in certain school grades in Florida, objectives that Garcia still defended in her statement on Thursday."I do not believe that our school system should instruct children in Kindergarten – 3rd grade about sexual identity or sexual orientation.
