Florida's "Don't Say Gay" Bill

One thing that seems to have flown under the radar is that this bill is basically a Bill of Rights for parents who abuse their young children.. 

According to HB1557, a parent must approve a well-being questionnaire before it can be given to a child in kindergarten through third grade. Older kids are not subject to this requirement. The bill did specify that school personnel can withhold the results of a well-being assessment from a parent if they reasonably believe that the release of he results could lead to abuse of the child. Though they made no such clarification for administering the test in the first place for younger kids. If teacher suspects a parent is abusing their second grader, they first have to ask that parent for permission to conduct a well-being assessment before they can proceed.

Another bizarre part of the bill is that it basically gives parents the ability to blackmail their school district. 

If parents believes their rights have been violated under this bill, and don’t like the resolution the school offers, they can force the school to go before a special magistrate for mediation. The district is then responsible for paying the cost of the magistrate in addition to their own attorneys fees. If they lose, they may have to pay out damages as well as any court costs accrued by the aggrieved party. Even if the district wins the suit, they’re still paying their own attorneys fees as well as the cost of the trial. 

Under this system, it's not that difficult to imagine a situation where a parent makes an unreasonable demand that puts the district in a no-win situation.  Let's say a parent wants a particular teacher fired. Even if the basis for their complaint has no standing, they can still force the district in to mediation. The school's only options would be: 1. Fire the teacher, 2. Defend the teacher at a steep cost to the school's budget.

As for the “Don’t Say Gay” part of the bill, that phrase would be an appropriate way to describe this legislation.

Defenders will try to argue that the bill only applies to young children. When making this arguing, he'll cite the language of the bill that says classroom instruction on "sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3" but deliberately leaves out the part that says "or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.

Those are some pretty vague terms. Who defines what is "age appropriate", "developmentally appropriate" , and what exactly does the Florida state standards have to say about sexual orientation or gender identity?

The answer as far as I can tell is that there is no strict definition within the Florida state standards that guides teachers on when it is appropriate to discuss sexual orientation or gender identity. They do have a approved class on sexual behavior and orientation for grades 9 through 12, but nothing about when and how the topic can be approached outside of that specific setting.

The answer may lie in another piece of legislation signed by Ron DeSantis a year earlier. HB241 states that schools may not interfere with the parents the right to "direct the education" of their child as well as the "right to direct the upbringing and the moral or religious training" of their child. 

Under these laws, a parent of a 12th grader could demand changes at a school, or take them to trial, on the grounds that a discussion of sexual orientation in class was not "developmentally appropriate" for their child and interfered with their right to direct the moral and religious education of their child under the state standard. 

Given that, it's not surprising that school districts are nervous, and why "don't say gay" is an appropriate way to describe the state of Florida's official policy when it comes to discussing sexual orientation and gender identity in school.