Florida Bans LGBTQ: How Does it Impact the Community?
A few weeks ago, Florida banned LGBTQ after the Governor of the state Ron DeSantis of the Republican party signed a law. The law is called the Parental Rights in Education bill. Many supporters of the LGBTQ community have said that it effectively bans schools from talking about them and their issues. The law seeks to restrict the discussion regarding LGBTQ on school premises. But it is also at the forefront of the tussle over how much involvement parents can have in their kids' education. It also raises queries about how much support educational institutions should provide for their students. Let us look at the highlightFlorida Bans LGBTQ: How Does it Impact the Community?s of the news after Florida banned LGBTQ, the law, and its repercussions.
DeSantis said that parents' rights are "increasingly under assault around the nation, but in Florida, we stand up for the rights of parents and the fundamental role they play in the education of their children. [Parents] should be protected from schools using classroom instruction to sexualize their kids as young as 5-years-old. They have to lie because if they admit what they were really for, sexualizing kindergartners. …[T]hey know that would not fly with the public." LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Florida's Brandon Wolf said that there were many schools that had started to remove the rainbow safe-space stickers from their respective windows. She said, "It begs whether a teacher has a picture of a partner on their desk or is asked to be referred to as Mr. or Mrs. if that counts as classroom instruction on gender identity. Cash-strapped school districts can't afford to test the bounds of a law like this. The chilling effect is a natural implication of this legislation."
What is the Law With Which Florida Bans LGBTQ?
The law with which Florida bans LGBTQ is about banning any discussion or education regarding such matters for school children who study from kindergarten to the third grade. For the older students, the discussion regarding transgender and gay issues has to be appropriate for their development or should be tailored according to their age. The law effectively states that education in the school regarding any person's sexual orientation and gender should not begin at a very early age. It also means that parents should have the last call about what their kids should learn in educational institutions. It seeks to underline the basic right of parents to make decisions about the control and upbringing of their kids according to the legislation text. Education regarding sex is already banned in Florida up to the fifth standard.
According to some experts, the impact that it can have on the kids is minimal. This is because they say that the law seeks to solve an issue that does not even exist for the younger students of Florida. But the law restricts the discussions about the issues regarding LGBTQ. So, it can restrict the conversation for kids who are required to solve the issues regarding their own gender and questions about their sexual identity. The law also empowers the guardians to sue the school district if they are teaching the kids something that they do not want their students to learn. If the lawsuit is successful, the district will have to pay for it. The impact on students is that it could lead many schools to remove a lot of conversation or to teach about issues regarding LGBTQ on their own. Several librarians across the nation are pointing fingers at their educational institute over silently removing the LGBTQ and race-related books from their stocks before it begins any kind of conflict inside the institute or among parents.
Another point is that the law needs schools to inform parents when their kids get services related to mental health. The impact on students with this clause is that it will remove the ability of an educational institute to be a safe haven for students who might not be so comfortable talking to their parents or guardians about their sexuality or gender orientation. But the supporters of the law say it will ensure that guardians and parents are well informed if their kid is getting confused regarding their identity. A supporter of the bill is a mother from the state who says that the school recognized her kid's gender identity as different from the one she was born with. A researcher of extreme ideologies at the University of Miami, Joseph Uscinski, said, "If you want to go after somebody and make them the worst person possible — make them look like they are evil incarnate — then 'you're soft on child molesting' is a great way to go."
Why This Bill That Helps Florida Ban LGBTQ is so Controversial
The proponents of the LGBTQ community state that the law increases the efforts to show the people of the community as dangerous or something different than the other citizens. The legislation is coming when the culture wars caused by the conservative group are gathering momentum. Presently, more young people in the nation are viewing themselves as a part of the LGBTQ than ever before. The Governor of the state has utilized language in the past that has seemed to place the people who oppose the law in a bad light. His press secretary has also pointed fingers at rivals of training young children to take on the law. This rhetorical fits right in with a wider narrative from the Republican party of accusing rivals of lending support to pedophilia. It was one of the main lines of questioning against Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the Supreme Court nominee of President Biden. This was even when her previous sentences in cases related to child pornography were well within the judicial mainstream lines.
In a press release regarding the petition, the Executive Director of Equality Florida said, "The current political climate across the country is so toxic when it comes to protections for our community, and Florida is not immune. It is vital that the businesses that uplift values of diversity and inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community by participating in our Pride celebrations leverage their voices in a time when our community is under attack."
Florida Banning LGBTQ Pushes the Lines on the Debate Surrounding Parental Rights
Experts say that guardians and parents should be well informed of what their kids are learning in educational institutions and at what age. The debate is in line with the conservatives opposing the vaccine and mask mandates in educational institutes. It also led to pushback against debates in these institutes regarding race after the recent protests against the killing of George Floyd. The state has been among the frontlines for all of this. It has restricted debates in educational institutions that make any person feel guilt regarding their race.
Human Rights Campaign released a statement that said that DeSantis "once again placed Florida squarely on the wrong side of history, and placed his own young constituents directly in harm's way — and he has done this for no other reason than to serve his own political ambitions." Interim President Joni Madison released a statement that said, "We're staring at a new reality where LGBTQ+ students may wonder if they're allowed even to acknowledge their own sexuality or gender identity; a reality where young people with LGBTQ+ family members may be forced to remain silent while others can speak freely; a reality where LGBTQ+ school staff may be forbidden from so much as mentioning their loved ones."
Conclusion
The law that helps Florida ban LGBTQ is something that will have both proponents and detractors alike. The former says that the bill does not change much more than what was in place in educational institutes and also seeks to protect the rights of parents regarding the educational practices of their kids and wards. The others state that it is a big blow for the LGBTQ community and tries to portray them in a poor light. The effects of the law will become clear in the near future.
