“Don’t Say Gay” for all classes
Schoolchildren in Florida no longer learn about LGBTQ
4/20/2023 1:01 am
Sexual orientation and gender identity are no longer on the curriculum in Florida. The conservative government around Governor DeSantis extends an existing ban on teaching to all school classes. Critics complain: “The government’s greed for censorship is insatiable.”
The US state of Florida has extended a controversial ban on teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity to all school classes. The responsible education council of the conservative-governed state voted on Wednesday for the measure, which expands a law passed in 2022 and described by critics as “Don’t Say Gay”. Florida last year banned teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through third grade. The ban has now been extended to grades four through twelve.
Exceptions for these age groups exist only when instruction on these subjects is explicitly required in state curricula, which is not the case in Florida, or as part of educational courses that parents can give their children time off from. Teachers who violate these guidelines face suspension or dismissal.
Representatives of the LGBTQ community strongly condemned the actions of the administration of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. “Shame on the DeSantis administration for putting targets on the backs of LGBTQ Florida residents,” Equality Florida wrote on Twitter. “The government’s greed for censorship is insatiable.”
Critics accuse DeSantis of trying to position himself as a future presidential candidate with a hard-right course and a crackdown on the LGBTQ community. The 44-year-old rising star of the US Republican Party is considered the most potentially dangerous rival to ex-President Donald Trump in the race for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination could strive for.