The Florida State Board of Education voted to implement new rules on Wednesday expanding the scope of the state’s infamous “Don’t Say Gay” law to cover all K-12 public education.
In three unanimous votes, the seven-person board approved new rules that lengthen the reach of the “Parental Rights in Education” law passed last year. Whereas the original law barred classroom discussion of “sexual orientation and gender identity” from grades K-3 and allowed it only as “developmentally appropriate” in higher grades, the new rules state that even for high school seniors, such discussion or instruction is banned unless “expressly required by state academic standards [...] or is part of a reproductive health course or health lesson for which a student’s parent has the option to have his or her student not attend.” Any instructor who violates the rules could be fired and have their teaching license revoked.
In other words, no publicly employed teacher in the state of Florida will be able to talk about LGBTQ+ topics to their students in anything but the most limited circumstances, if at all. A spokesperson for Gov. Ron DeSantis told ABC News that “there is no reason for instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity to be part of K-12 public education. Full stop.”
The rule changes, which do not require legislative approval, are set to take effect in approximately one month following a procedural notice period, as the Associated Press reported.
Joe Saunders, Senior Political Director for Equality Florida, called the “Don’t Say Gay” expansion “part of the Governor’s assault on freedom” in a joint statement with the Human Rights Campaign on Wednesday afternoon. DeSantis has targeted LGBTQ+ communities and trans people in particular during his governorship, pushing through bans on medical care for trans youth and orchestrating hostile takeovers of school boards he has deemed “woke.”
“This policy will escalate the government censorship that is sweeping our state, exacerbate our educator exodus, drive hardworking families from Florida, and further stigmatize and isolate a population of young people who need our support now more than ever,” Saunders wrote. “Shame on the DeSantis Administration for putting a target on the backs of LGBTQ+ Floridians.”
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