Students stage school walkouts across Florida over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill
Students in Florida walked out of school in protest of the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill after it recently passed through the state’s House of Representatives.
The legislation, which is officially called the Parental Rights in Education bill, seeks to restrict “classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity” in primary schools.
Republicans hold a majority of 78 seats to the Democrat’s 40 in Florida’s House of Representatives, which passed ‘Don’t Say Gay’ by a vote of 69-47 on 24 February.
In response to the legislation continuing to advance, Flagler Palm Coast High School senior Jack Petocz used social media to coordinate statewide protests against it on 3 March. “The language and the supporters of the bill and the rhetoric around the bill really shows what this bill is, and it’s an attempt to hurt queer people like me,” he explained to NBC News.
