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Too Many Democrats in Florida Support the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill
New polls show Democrats supporting bigoted and vicious legislation promoted by the GOP targeting kids
On Monday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law legislation that in no uncertain terms seeks to instill shame in queer and trans children statewide. The only thing worse about this new reality is that a lot of Democrats appear to be standing on the side of the bigot. That is not unsurprising, but it is incredibly disheartening to learn as the LGBTQ community already has a large target on its back.
Known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, the law mandates that any classroom lessons “by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards” and allows parents to sue school districts in order to enforce it.
“We will continue to recognize that in the state of Florida, parents have a fundamental role in the education, health care and well-being of their children,” DeSantis said during the bill’s signing. “We will not move from that.”
Conservatives like DeSantis say HB 1557 is based on the belief that LGBTQ-related topics should be left for families to discuss at home. However, as I’ve recently noted, the bill’s sponsor has been forthright that the bill seeks to curb younger people from identifying as LGBTQ. He thinks there is something wrong with being gay.
And shortly the bill, officially called the Parental Rights in Education bill, passed the Senate, DeSantis’ spokesperson made a Christina Pushaw took to Twitter to effectively brand all gay people as pedophiles.
“The bill that liberals inaccurately call “Don’t Say Gay’ would be more accurately described as an Anti-Grooming Bill,” Pushaw tweeted. She followed with this: “If you’re against the Anti-Grooming Bill, you are probably a groomer or at least you don’t denounce the grooming of 4–8 year old children. Silence is complicity. This is how it works, Democrats, and I didn’t make the rules.”
