Florida education board extends ban on gender identity lessons to all grades
Last edited Wed Apr 19, 2023, 04:27 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: Reuters
April 19 (Reuters) - Florida education officials voted on Wednesday to ban classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in all public school grades, expanding on a law signed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis that barred such lessons for younger students and was derided by critics as the "Don't Say Gay" bill.
The new rule is part of a broader rightward push on cultural issues championed by DeSantis, who is widely expected to run for president in 2024. The board, whose members are appointed by the governor, unanimously approved prohibiting lessons on gender identity or sexual orientation in grades four through 12, unless the instruction is required by state standards or is part of a health class that parents can opt their children out of.
Last year, DeSantis signed legislation that outlawed instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation from kindergarten through third grade, arguing that parents, rather than teachers, should decide when to discuss those subjects with their children. Critics, including Democratic President Joe Biden, said the law would marginalize already vulnerable LGBTQ students. The statute sparked an ongoing battle between DeSantis and the Walt Disney Co, after the entertainment corporation publicly opposed the law.
Dozens of speakers gave impassioned remarks, mostly in opposition to the measure, during nearly an hour of public comment ahead of Wednesday's vote. Many opponents said the rule's language was so vague that teachers would likely avoid the subjects altogether rather than risk their careers. Some speakers asked whether teachers might skip works of fiction that feature gay characters, for instance, while others wondered whether LGBTQ students, or students with LGBTQ families, would feel unable to discuss their personal lives in class.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/florida-education-board-vote-extending-ban-gender-identity-lessons-2023-04-19/
Going for broke.
Short article at post time. Article now updated.
Previous articles/headline -
The new rule is part of a broader rightward push on cultural issues championed by DeSantis, who is widely expected to run for president in 2024. The board, whose members are appointed by the governor, unanimously approved prohibiting lessons on gender identity or sexual orientation in grades four through 12, unless the instruction is required by state standards or is part of a health class that parents can opt their children out of.
Last year, DeSantis signed legislation that outlawed instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation from kindergarten through third grade, arguing that parents, rather than teachers, should decide when to discuss those subjects with their children. Critics, including President Joe Biden, said the law would marginalize already-vulnerable LGBTQ students. The statute sparked an ongoing battle between DeSantis and Disney, after the entertainment corporation publicly opposed the law.
Dozens of speakers gave impassioned remarks, mostly in opposition to the measure, during nearly an hour of public comment ahead of Wednesday's vote. Opponents of the rule said its language was so vague that teachers would likely avoid the subjects altogether, perhaps by excising books that feature LGBTQ characters. Several transgender people described how having a trusted teacher to confide in as adolescents helped save their lives.
April 19 (Reuters) - Florida education officials voted on Wednesday to prohibit virtually any classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in all public school grades, expanding on a law signed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis that barred such lessons for younger students.
The new rule, which does not require legislative approval, is part of a broader rightward push on cultural issues championed by DeSantis, who is widely expected to run for president in 2024.
Dozens of speakers offered public comment for nearly an hour, with most opposed to the measure, before the unanimous vote to approve it by the state board of education, whose members are appointed by the governor.
The new regulation bars teachers from providing such lessons to students in grades four through 12, unless the instruction is required by state standards or is part of a health class that parents can opt their children out of. Violating the rule could result in the suspension or revocation of an educator's teaching license.
Original article -
The new rule, which does not require legislative approval, is part of a broader rightward push on cultural issues that DeSantis has championed for what is widely expected to be a 2024 presidential campaign.
peppertree
(21,643 posts)Jimvanhise
(302 posts)That's the law which a Federal judge ruled to be a violation of the First Amendment. Florida claims they are going to appeal it but they haven't yet but they are still enforcing a law which has been ruled illegal. Basically they are extorting the teachers of Florida to follow the illegal law or be fired. Why hasn't Florida been sued over this?
BumRushDaShow
(129,228 posts)this past February -
February 16, 2023
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) A federal judge has again dismissed a lawsuit challenging a Florida law critics have dubbed Dont Say Gay that restricts teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation in schools.
U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor in Tallahassee ruled Wednesday that a revised lawsuit filed by students, parents and teachers failed to show they had legal standing to challenge the law. The lawsuit had argued the new Florida law is unconstitutional.
According to the ruling, the plaintiffs needed to show they suffered harm that could be traced to the new law and could be remedied by a favorable decision from the court. The judge said most of the plaintiffs claims of harm come from the existence of the new law, rather than its enforcement.
Winsor dismissed an earlier version of the case in September on similar grounds, and a similar lawsuit filed in Orlando was also dismissed in October.
(snip)
https://apnews.com/article/florida-tallahassee-education-lawsuits-c568376af04807379346b23e0e2d7769
That was just appeared late last month -
The notice of appeal does not detail arguments that the plaintiffs will make at the Atlanta-based appeals court
By Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida on Mon, Mar 27, 2023 at 12:39 pm
A challenge to a 2022 law restricting classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation has gone to a federal appeals court, as state lawmakers and education officials look to expand the restrictions.
Attorneys for students, parents and teachers filed a notice of appeal at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal after U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor last month dismissed for the second time a lawsuit arguing the law is unconstitutional. Winsor on Feb. 15 ruled that the plaintiffs had not alleged sufficient facts to show they had legal standing to challenge the law.
As is common, the notice of appeal does not detail arguments that the plaintiffs will make at the Atlanta-based appeals court. But the notice, filed this month, indicated the plaintiffs will challenge Winsors Feb. 15 ruling and a Sept. 29 ruling to dismiss the case. Winsor allowed the plaintiffs to file a revised case after the September ruling.
The law, which has drawn national attention, prevents instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade and requires that such instruction be age-appropriate in accordance with state academic standards in older grades. Republican lawmakers titled the measure the Parental Rights in Education bill. Opponents labeled it the Dont Say Gay bill.
(snip)
https://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/fight-over-floridas-dont-say-gay-law-goes-to-federal-appeals-court-33848933
bucolic_frolic
(43,236 posts)Let's try "Projection for $200, Alex"
Botany
(70,539 posts)and planted onto social media sites and broadcast on shit bag media outlets like Fox News. These are
straight out of the KGB/FSB/Putin's playbook. And don't kid yourself DeSantis is well aware of the origins
of these made up non issues. The hotbed for pushing the "threat from trans people" in America is Hillsdale
College in Michigan.