On March 28, Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) signed HB 1557, the euphemistically titled “Parents’ Rights in Education Act”. The legislation prohibits the “instruction [and in the preamble, “classroom discussion”] related to gender identity or sexual orientation” in kindergarten through third grade classes or instruction by school personnel or third parties “in a manner that is not age or developmentally appropriate for students according to state standards. The bill prohibits public school personnel from preventing the disclosure to parents of “critical decisions” that affect the “mental, emotional, or physical health and well-being” of students. Authorizes private citizens to enforce the law by filing lawsuits against school districts for damages and attorney fees.
According to DeSantis, the bill will end the practice of “sexualizing children in kindergarten,” allowing schools to “transition” students to a different gender, and impose a “gender-awake ideology.” in first grade students. The legislation will prevent “different people in the school” from saying students“Oh don’t worry, don’t choose your gender yet.”
DeSantis did not mention that the Florida Board of Education has indicated that sexual orientation and gender are not part of K to 3dr undergraduate curriculum.
DeSantis has rarely identified any of the “people” he says are indoctrinating schoolchildren. And the history that he has said about a decision made by “some people” at a school without parental consent to change a student’s “name and pronouns” because “she was really a boy” it is inaccurate.
The governor’s decision to sign the bill into the Classical High School in Spring Hill, Florida, even though it does not apply to charter schools, is another sign that its primary purpose is political: to serve red meat to a grassroots MAGA.
Appropriately named “Don’t Say ‘Gay,’” the legislation is unconstitutional, unnecessary, and bigoted.
HB 1557 is grotesquely vague and broad. The terms “instruction related to gender identity or sexual orientation,” “classroom discussion,” “age-appropriate,” “developmentally appropriate,” “critical decisions,” and “third parties” are not defined. And the clause about age and developmentally appropriate instruction could apply to grades 4 and up. Additionally, the law will go into effect on July 1, 2022, one year before the Florida Board of Education is required to provide guidance on compliance.
Would a gay professor — or, for that matter, a straight one — break the law if he referred to his spouse? Should a teacher remain silent if a student says that he has two moms and someone else asks what that means? Should all books and periodicals with gay or transgender characters, homoerotic overtones, or, for example, references to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg be banned from Florida public schools? Are school districts required to inform parents that their child has asked questions related to sexual orientation or gender identity?
The Supreme Court has declared that a law shouldn’t be so vague that persons “of ordinary intelligence must necessarily guess its meaning and differ in its application.” The High Court has also decreed that to pass the constitutional test, the government must show “a compelling state interest in restricting the content of speech and that the restriction is strictly designed to achieve that end.” The Court has indicated as well as that students of all ages have free speech rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The suits have already been archived v. HB 1557, and make a compelling case that the legislation invites arbitrary enforcement by “roving censors” who violate Title IX’s prohibitions on discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and that the bill The law is intended to force school districts to reduce their liability for telling teachers not to say or do anything that might arouse the ire of “sensitive” (i.e., anti-LGBTQ) parents.
Along with their constitutional arguments, critics contend that treating gay and transgender people, who already experience high rates of bullying, harassment and assault —as “outcasts, or their allies as outlaws, by punishing schools where someone dares to assert their identity and dignity”, constitutes “a serious abuse of power”. Blocking discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity, by Frank Worrell, president of the American Psychological Association, “risks stigmatizing and marginalizing children who may notice their differences at an early age.” It can lead to “depression, anxiety, self-harm and even suicide.”
While heaping praise on the so-called “Parents’ Rights in Education Act,” it’s worth noting that DeSantis threatened to end “legal privileges” for disney corporation, who publicly opposed the bill. And he pushed for “Freedom of expression for health professionalsbills that would prevent medical boards from sanctioning doctors who recommend COVID-19 treatments not approved by the CDC, unless they can prove “beyond a reasonable doubt that they caused direct physical harm” to their patients.
Defender of freedom of expression, megaphones for those who agree with him and gags for those who do not, this governor, it seems clear, speaks with a forked tongue.
Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. He is co-author (with Stuart Blumin) of “Rude Republic: Americans and Their Politics in the Nineteenth Century.”
Reference-thehill.com