Florida passes ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill banning discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in primary school classrooms

• The bill, dubbed ‘Don’t Say Gay’ by its critics, stops school districts from encouraging any discussion of the topics in a way that is not age-appropriate 
• Opponents to the law, which passed Thursday in the House of Representative in a 69-47 vote, warn that it will mean LGBTQ identity, history and culture will be erased 
• And the White House has lambasted the law, which is expected to come into effect from July 1, and said it was ‘designed to attack’ LGBT youth 
• The bill passed after a proposed amendment that would have required schools to ‘out’ students to their parents if they identified as LGBTQ within six weeks was pulled on Tuesday 

Florida has passed a law which bans the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in primary school classrooms. 

The bill, dubbed ‘Don’t Say Gay’ by its critics, stops school districts from encouraging any discussion of the topics in a way that is not age-appropriate for students. 

Opponents to the law, which passed Thursday in the House of Representative in a 69-47 vote, warn that it will mean LGBTQ identity, history and culture will be erased. 

And the White House has lambasted the law, which is expected to come into effect from July 1, and said it was ‘designed to attack’ LGBT youth. 

The bill, dubbed ‘Don’t Say Gay’ by its critics, stops school districts from encouraging any discussion of the topics in a way that is not age-appropriate for students

Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said schools should avoid ‘entirely inappropriate’ topics and instead be teaching science and history

It comes as a new Gallup poll last week revealed that more than double the number of Americans in the US say they identify as LGBTQ than they did a decade ago.  

A record 7.1 percent of Americans identify as straight or heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, a percentage which is up from 3.5 percent of Americans in 2012. It has been steadily increasing since the poll began.  

Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said schools should avoid ‘entirely inappropriate’ topics and instead be teaching science and history, according to the BBC.

The executive director of the Equality Florida non-profit, Nadine Smith, told the publication: ‘What we are seeing is the systematic erasure, or elimination of resources for young people and a gag order imposed on educators.’

The bill passed after a proposed amendment that would have required schools to ‘out’ students to their parents if they identified as LGBTQ within six weeks was pulled on Tuesday.   

It comes as a new Gallup poll last week revealed that more than double the number of Americans in the US say they identify as LGBTQ than they did a decade ago

The amendment, proposed by Republican Rep. Joe Harding on Friday, was withdrawn from the controversial bill that has been criticized by LGBTQ groups and President Joe Biden as ‘dangerous,’ ‘deeply bigoted’ and ‘hateful.’

And the bill even allows parents to sue school districts that do promote talking about such issues.  

DeSantis said: ‘Parents must have a seat at the table when it comes to what’s going on in their schools.’ 

A staff attorney for Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, Shayna Medley, told the NY Daily News: ‘Florida’s ”Don’t Say Gay” bill reflects yet another attempt to censor discussions in schools about people and issues that conservative legislatures disfavor, under the guise of parental rights.’ 

The Florida bill passed just one month after English teacher Loris Caldeira at Buena Vista Middle School in Spreckels, California, was suspended after she an fellow educator Kelly Baraki, 39, were recorded discussion how they ‘stalked’ students online to find recruits for the You Be You club. 

The pair also encouraged students to keep discussions hidden from their parents.   

Lori Caldeira was suspended from her post at Buena Vista Middle School in Spreckels, California after she and fellow educator Kelly Baraki were recorded discussing how they ‘stalked’ students online

Teacher Kelly Baraki, 39, slammed the door of her home in Salinas, California, when DailyMail.com approached her and asked her to give her version of events

Last December, mother Jessica Konen accused the pair of encouraging her daughter to think she was a trans boy when she was at the school in 2019 – only for the child to return to her female persona while learning remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The You Be You club has since been shut down by the 360-student school while both Caldeira and Baraki have been suspended pending an investigation. ‘The staff involved have been placed on administrative leave,’ the school district said in a statement. 

Konen has now launched a legal claim against the school and the two seventh-grade teachers – claiming they kept her daughter’s phony trans identity secret from her and hid that she had been having suicidal thoughts. The girl is now attending high school in another district.

In her court papers, Koren says her daughter, identified by her initials, A.G., found distance learning difficult ‘but there was a silver lining — because A.G. was at home throughout the school day, she was no longer in the clutches of Ms Caldiera (sic) and Ms Baraki. Freed from their influence A.G. began to return to her old self.’

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