Schools should teach about race, gender and history. The broad reexamination of public education has often turned contentious and led to books being pulled from school library shelves.Īs written, the proposal states that school districts “may not encourage classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.” A parent could sue a district for violations. In a committee hearing last week, Democrats peppered bill sponsor Rep. Joe Harding with questions about whether kids would be able to talk freely about LGBTQ people or history.
Harding repeatedly said his bill is meant to give parents more control over what their children learn. He maintained that it would not silence spontaneous discussions but instead stop a district from integrating such topics into the curriculum. He added that schools could still have lessons on Pride Month and events such as the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre in which a gunman killed 49 people in Orlando. “This doesn’t preclude discussion and conversation that’s going to happen. We’re talking about a school district initiating something through a standard procedure or policy that they’re doing,” he said.Ĭritics said Harding’s statements contradicted the broad text of his bill, particularly in terms of having lessons on LGBTQ history, which they argued would be barred from the curriculum. They also said the proposal does not specify what grades would be affected. Harding said it would apply to students in kindergarten through fifth grade. “There’s a lack of clarity clearly on what this bill is seeking to do. Conversations about us aren’t something dangerous that should be banned.”Īaron DiPietro, legislative director for the conservative Florida Family Policy Council, spoke in support of the measure, telling the committee: “These are issues that parents need to be involved in.” But what we do know is that LGBTQ people are a normal, healthy part of our society,” Jon Harris Maurer, public policy director of Equality Florida, told lawmakers at the hearing. The bill passed the GOP-controlled committee and now heads to another committee. Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat who is gay, posted a videoto social media criticizing the proposal.