Tag: pronouns

Florida lawmakers restrict pronouns and tackle book objections in sweeping education bill

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Florida’s proposed parental rights expansions, FL HB1069 (23R), are part of the push by state conservatives to uproot what they say is “indoctrination” in schools and is one of several bills taken up this session focusing on the LGBTQ community and transness in particular. It’s an issue DeSantis frequently raises ahead of his expected presidential bid, where he regularly decries teachers who discuss gender identity with young students.
It’s also led to high profile fights pitting Florida Republicans and DeSantis against LGBTQ supports such as the Biden administration and Walt Disney Co., who said such legislation with further marginalize LGBTQ students and will lead to increased bullying and even suicide.
The bill will broaden the state’s prohibition on teaching about sexual identity and gender orientation from kindergarten through third grade to pre-K through eighth grade, though in April the Florida Board of Education already expanded the restrictions to all public schools through high school.
It also targets how school staff and students can use pronouns on K-12 campuses. Specifically, the legislation stipulates that school employees can’t ask students for their preferred pronouns and restricts school staff from sharing their pronouns with students if they “do not correspond” with their sex. Under the bill, it would be “false to ascribe” a person with a pronoun that “does not correspond to such person’s sex.”
“The ‘Don’t Say LGBTQ’ law has already caused sweeping damage across our state,” said Jon Harris Maurer, director of public policy at Equality Florida, an LGBTQ advocacy group. “It was wrong when it was adopted, and expanding it is wrong now. State Democrats have joined LGBTQ advocates in opposing the bill throughout the two-month session, contending that the policies equate to sex discrimination and are disrespectful to LGBTQ students and families.
Democrats suggested that even though the bill isn’t explicitly titled “Don’t Say Gay,” its policies extend beyond the language in the legislation and target the LGBTQ community, pointing to instances such as a Republican House member labeling transgender people as demons, imps and mutants.
Democrats argued that the legislation being taken up by Republicans is pushing people away from Florida, such as former Miami Heat basketball star Dwyane Wade, who said he left the state because he has a 15-year-old transgender daughter.
“Let’s be honest about at least what this bill is about,” state Sen. Tina Polsky (D-Boca Raton) said on the floor Tuesday. “It is about trying to silence any discussion about anything different from heterosexuality.”

But Republican legislators, who hold supermajorities in both chambers, maintain that expanding the parental rights law is necessary to ensure the state’s youngest students learn about adult topics like sexual orientation and gender identity from their parents instead of teachers.
Similar to last year, when the parental rights bill was introduced, conservatives have fought against the narrative surrounding the bill, condemning opponents who call the measure “Don’t Say Gay” and for politicizing an issue they say is “common sense.”
State Sen. Doug Broxson (R-Gulf Breeze), the Senate’s budget chief, addressed this Wednesday when speaking about why state Republicans don’t always debate controversial bills.
“They’re sitting there with a mandate from their district that says ‘Senator, would you make sure you reinforce common sense?’ Just do what makes sense,” Broxson said on the floor. “You don’t have to debate about it, you don’t have to get up and shout, scream. Just push a button that you believe in common sense.”
Additionally, the bill aims to expand Florida law to require that books facing objections for being pornographic, harmful to minors, or describe or depict sexual activity must be pulled within five days and remain out of circulation for the duration of the challenge.
This comes as DeSantis, along with other Florida conservatives, seek to remove books with graphic content from schools, taking aim at specific titles such as “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe, which depicts sex acts.
Democrats criticize this provision as a “ban first, review later” mentality and censorship in education. But Republicans contend the measure is focused on protecting children from explicit content.
“We need to keep the discussion about what would be termed as book banning in context, because we’re talking about pornography or sexually inappropriate materials,” state Sen. Clay Yarborough (R-Jacksonville), who sponsored the bill, said during a Tuesday’s floor session. “We have in no way directed these schools or directed the districts to remove every single book off their school shelves. But parents need an opportunity to raise a concern If they have one, and that should be reviewed.”
The Florida House passed HB 1069 by a 77-35 vote in March. DeSantis is widely expected to sign the bill into law.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

May 3, 2023
Veto stands: Transgender pronouns OK in North Dakota schools

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In a letter to state lawmakers announcing his veto, the governor said, “The teaching profession is challenging enough without the heavy hand of state government forcing teachers to take on the role of pronoun police.” The First Amendment already protects teachers from speaking contrary to their beliefs, and existing law protects the free speech rights of state employees, Burgum added.
Republican lawmakers across the U.S. have drafted hundreds of laws this year to push back on LGBTQ+ freedoms, particularly seeking to regulate aspects of transgender people’s lives including gender-affirming health care, bathroom use, athletics and drag performances.
“Ask yourself, does Senate Bill 2231 treat others the way you would want to be treated?” Democratic Rep. Emily O’Brien of Grand Forks said on the House floor, adding that overriding the veto would perpetuate “discrimination, hatred or prejudice.”
Republican Rep. SuAnn Olson of Baldwin said the bill protects freedom of speech for teachers and keeps “inappropriate” topics out of the classroom.
North Dakota will consider other bills this session about transgender students, she said.
Olson said that if lawmakers “are firm on this bill, on girls’ athletics, on separate bathrooms, we will strengthen public schools.” But allowing what she called an “emphasis on sexuality” in schools would cause students and teachers to abandon the public education system.
State representatives voted 56-36 to override the governor’s veto, but 63 votes were required.
All 12 Democrats in the House voted against the bill, as did 24 Republicans. One was Rep. Eric Murphy, of Grand Forks, an associate professor of biomedical sciences at the University of North Dakota.

“I’m tired of these bills. I’m tired of both sides,” Murphy said on the House floor. “If a student wants to be called a different pronoun, does that really matter? Is this earth-shattering?”
In 2021, Burgum vetoed a bill that would have barred transgender girls from playing on girls’ teams in public schools. Lawmakers didn’t override that veto, but they’re considering new legislation this session to replicate and expand that bill — including at the college level.
Last week, President Joe Biden denounced what he called hundreds of hateful and extreme state laws that target transgender kids and their families.
“The bullying, discrimination, and political attacks that trans kids face have exacerbated our national mental health crisis,” Biden said. “These attacks are un-American and must end.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 4, 2023
Florida House passes parental rights bill restricting pronouns in schools

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With the 77-35 vote that saw House Democrats in opposition, the legislation is on the cusp of passing the Legislature but is awaiting a final committee hearing in the Senate. Two Republicans — State Rep. Demi Busatta Cabrera (R-Coral Gables) and Rep. Will Robinson (R-Bradenton) — crossed party lines and voted against the bill.
“For those who think our schools should be some sort of social justice experiment, I challenge you this: I don’t agree with any of it, but when 100 percent of our children are proficient in reading, and 100 percent of our children are proficient in math, then there is time for all of this silliness,” said state Rep. Randy Fine (R-Palm Bay). “You want to know what hurts children? It’s the fact that they can’t read, it’s the fact that they can’t do math.”
The bill, FL HB1069 (23R), would broaden the state’s prohibition on teaching about sexual identity and gender orientation from kindergarten through third grade to pre-K through eighth grade. This was a key piece in the Parental Rights in Education bill, known nationally as “Don’t Say Gay,” that was one of the more controversial policies passed by state lawmakers in 2022.
It also targets how school staff and students can use pronouns on K-12 campuses. Specifically, the legislation stipulates that school employees can’t ask students for their preferred pronouns and restricts school staff from sharing their pronouns with students if they “do not correspond” with their sex. Under the bill, it would be “false to ascribe” a person with a pronoun that “does not correspond to such person’s sex.”
As lawmakers voted on the bill, scores of LGBTQ advocates protested outside the House chamber, chanting in opposition of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who supports the parental rights expansions, and Republicans who passed it.
Most Florida Democrats have joined them in fighting the legislation, arguing the policies equate to sex discrimination and are disrespectful to LGBTQ students and families. They contend that the bill disregards the rights of parents who support their children being LGBTQ for the sake of others.
“In this body, our duty to our constituents is to make sure that every single constituent is seen and heard in our legislation,” said state Rep. Ashley Gantt (D-Miami). “And this bill does nothing but tell certain parts of our community in Florida that they don’t exist.”
Republican legislators, who hold a supermajority, maintain that expanding the parental rights law is necessary to ensure the state’s youngest students learn about adult topics like sexual orientation and gender identity from their parents instead of at school. Similar to last year when the parental rights bill was introduced, conservatives say the controversy over the proposal is a “manufactured narrative” and criticize advocacy groups and some school districts for politicizing the issue.

The legislation tackles an issue central to the parental rights polices lawmakers approved in 2022, which was inspired by a case in Leon County where parents claim that school officials helped their child transition to a different gender without informing them.
“I’m very concerned when I hear this bill being correlated with another bill, the Parental Rights in Education bill,” said state Rep. Fabián Basabe (R-Miami Beach). “And we’re still calling it the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill when I know we’ve all spoken … on how much work has been put into that bill to change any words that may be interpreted as targeting.”
HB 1069 also adds to legislation passed by Republicans last year to increase transparency about what books are available to students.
The bill aims to expand Florida law to require that books facing objections for being pornographic, harmful to minors, or describe or depict sexual activity must be pulled within five days and remain out of circulation for the duration of the challenge.
It also expands school board jurisdiction to classroom libraries. The bill would allow a parent who disagrees with a district’s ruling on a book challenge to appeal the state education commissioner to appoint a special magistrate to hear the dispute.
This comes as DeSantis, along with other Florida conservatives, seek to remove books with graphic content from schools, taking aim at specific titles such as “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe, which depicts sex acts. Another measure in the bill stipulates that the Florida Department of Education must approve all materials for sex education classes, breaking from current policy of having local school boards pass them every year.
Democrats argue that the bill is too vague and could lead to parents challenging a large number of books that would then be kept off the shelves. They pointed to challenges to media that have played out across the state such as the Ruby Bridges movie being called out by a parent in Pinellas County, where it remains unavailable to other students in the district.
“This bill has given a ticket for racist, homophobic people — that this chamber does not support – to pull books that matter to our children,” said state Rep. Robin Bartleman (D-Weston).
The Senate parental rights bill, FL SB1320 (23R), is slated for a second and final hearing before the chamber’s Fiscal Policy committee, although no date has been set as of yet.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 1, 2023
From drag shows to pronouns: Florida GOP takes aim at LGBTQ issues

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“It is maddening and it is sad to see the continuous attack of people who are quote unquote, other,” state Rep. Michell Raynor-Goolsby, a Democrat from St. Petersburg and the state’s first Black female queer legislator, said in an interview. “And that is what we’re seeing in this legislature, in this body, through the different types of legislation that is passed by the majority.”
Florida’s Legislature is known for fulfilling DeSantis’ big priorities, such as approving last year’s redistricting maps that gave the GOP a 20-8 congressional seat advantage over Democrats. But legislators are now in overdrive ahead of DeSantis’ expected 2024 presidential announcement — just four weeks into the 60-day annual session, lawmakers already sent a handful of bills to the governor. And the culture war focused bills on gender identity and sexual identity will give DeSantis a list of legislative victories he can use while campaigning for the conservative base.
A spokesperson said the DeSantis administration doesn’t typically comment on pending legislation, but in general stated that the governor “is a staunch defender of a parent’s right to be informed about and involved in their child’s education; believes that sexually explicit content is not appropriate to display to children; and believes that children should not be encouraged to physically or chemically alter their bodies for life.”
Republican lawmakers in the supermajority claim their intent is to protect kids and improve education, not discriminate. Members of LGBTQ community, however, contend they’re being slighted and disenfranchised by the legislation that GOP lawmakers are rapidly advancing in the Capitol.
GOP Florida House Speaker Paul Renner said that lawmakers are legislating issues that children should not have to face in the first place.
“We need to stop all of this stuff, whether it’s these crazy books that are on library shelves, and just focus on reading, math and core knowledge to succeed in life,” Renner said in an interview. “That is a bipartisan issue — something we all agree with.”
Gender identity and sexual orientation
One of the bills lawmakers are considering would expand Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, labeled by critics as “Don’t Say Gay.” This proposal is set to broaden the state’s prohibition on teaching about sexual identity and gender orientation to pre-k through eighth grade. It also targets how school staff and students can use pronouns on K-12 campuses, stipulating that it would be “false to ascribe” someone with a pronoun that “does not correspond to such person’s sex.”
Florida’s Department of Education is also looking to broaden “Don’t Say Gay” to 12^th grade, a proposal that doesn’t need legislative approval and has drawn objections from Democrats and LGBTQ advocates.

Opponents of the legislation, such as advocacy groups Equality Florida and PRISM, claim it is effectively expanding the “censorship and attacks” on LGBTQ families in the state from last year’s law. They point to “sweeping censorship” that followed in 2022, like schools asking teachers to hide pictures of same-sex spouses from their desks.
“You have the choice to uplift students, to let them feel seen or heard, to learn about the reality of our world, or … to erase 25 percent of students in schools today from their classrooms,” Maxx Fenning, a University of Florida student and president of PRISM, and LGBTQ advocacy group, recently told lawmakers.
Republican legislators, however, argue that the intent of the parental rights law has been misinterpreted. Instead, they blame local school districts for “abusing” last year’s legislation that was meant to regulate classroom instruction by misinterpreting and politicizing the issue.
“What many school districts have done with that bill is terrible,” state GOP Rep. Randy Fine said during a bill hearing Thursday. “Because they have acted in bad faith to take a bill that they knew did not do those things. And, in order to try to score political points, they have actually done what they say they’re trying to stop to hurt people.”
Florida conservatives also are criticizing advocacy groups, claiming they are helping “blow out of proportion” the effects of the legislation by also politicizing the issue. As a result, Republican lawmakers claim naysayers are only hearing one side of the debate, maintaining that the proposal “doesn’t do anything to hurt children, but to protect children.”
“Opponents of this bill, especially the media, they want you to believe a manufactured narrative, one that they created, one that contradicts the substance and the purpose of this good bill,” said state Rep. Adam Anderson (R-Palm Harbor), a cosponsor of the House’s parental rights expansion.
But many Democrats disagree and see it as an attempt by DeSantis to excite the conservative base and, ultimately, win the GOP 2024 presidential nomination.
“The governor will be filing for president soon,” Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell told reporters Monday. “Our suspicion is that he wants to get as many of his priorities out of the way so that they will already be passed, and perhaps he can even sign them into law before he makes his announcement.”
Drag shows
Republican lawmakers are also pushing legislation that will ban children from attending drag shows with “lewd” performances, an effort that comes after DeSantis called for tighter regulations and said such events “sexualize” kids.
In February, the DeSantis administration filed a complaint against the Orlando Philharmonic Plaza Foundation for hosting “A Drag Queen Christmas,” a performance advertised for all ages that the state alleged was explicit and inappropriate for children. But the Miami Herald found that undercover state agents attending the event reported that they saw nothing indecent at the show.
Democrats contend the legislation aims to scare drag performers and the LGBTQ community while performers testified that the bill was an all-out attack on the drag community.
Renner said the efforts by Republicans on gender dysphoria and drag shows were in response to what he claimed are adults pushing their lifestyles on children.
“I think the point of our members, and our side of the aisle, is let kids be kids,” Renner said. “There’s a time for them to make decisions about sexual issues, and they will do so and we will support whatever their decision is when they become adults.”
During a Friday House committee meeting, Fine, the sponsor of the drag show bill, said he would fight for drag performers even if he isn’t interested in watching them. “I don’t want to go, but I will fight like hell to make sure you can do it,” Fine said. “But leave the children out of it.”
In fighting against bills advancing through the Legislature, Democrats say that conservatives are slighting the LGBTQ community in an attempt to increase the rights for parents. Policies like restricting the use of pronouns are ostracizing students, making them feel like refugees in their own country, said state Rep. Marie Woodson (D-Hollywood).
“I’m from Haiti, I know what it feels like,” Woodson said. “I know how it feels to be disrespected, I know how it feels not be acknowledged, I know how it feels to … feel different than anybody else. And this is how those kids are feeling, they cannot be themselves. Who am I to judge them?”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 28, 2023