The Florida chapter of Moms for Liberty, the conservative nonprofit that advocates for parental rights in schools, would like state lawmakers to expand the state law that restricts classroom instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation for children from kindergarten through the third grade.
The Parental Rights in Education law, dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by its critics, ignited a firestorm of criticism among Democrats and LGBTQ advocates and received national attention after it was introduced and later signed into law last year.
“We are advocating to increase that as far as ages and grades to have it be K-8,” said Angela Dubach, the Pinellas County chapter chair of the organization, speaking to the members of the Pinellas County legislative delegation as they met as a group on Wednesday morning at the Clearwater branch campus of St. Petersburg College.
A group of students, parents, and teachers filed a lawsuit last year to block the measure from being implemented, alleging it is unconstitutional in part because it “chills speech and expression that have any connection, however remote, to sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Brandon Wolf, press secretary for Equality Florida, slammed the idea.
“At every step of the way, right-wing extremists have gaslit the community about its insatiable desire for censorship and erasure of LGBTQ people,” he told the Phoenix in an email.
“They insisted that the Don’t Say LGBTQ law would be narrow in scope and limited to K-3, despite knowing that the law’s impacts would be far broader and more sweeping. Already, we’ve seen books with LGBTQ characters banned, ‘Safe Space’ stickers peeled from classroom windows, the contributions of LGBTQ people in history censored, and LGBTQ History Month itself rejected in districts across Florida,” he continued.
“The desire of right-wing groups like Moms for Liberty to wield more government censorship over more students is shameful and at odds with the bogus rationalization for this harmful policy they were peddling throughout 2022. LGBTQ people are a part of society’s fabric. We are your neighbors, family members, and friends. And our state should be a place committed to protecting all students and respecting all families.”
Four asks
The expansion of that law was one of four proposals that Dubach called on lawmakers to consider going into the 2023 legislative session. Dubach said that she’d also like legislators to “take a look” at expanding the timeline on legislation signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2021 that bans private employers and government entities from implementing COVID-19 vaccine mandates and school districts from requiring face masks. The measure is slated to expire on June 1.
Another measure that the Florida chapter of Moms for Liberty supports relates to school board races.
“Myself and our organization supports partisan school board elections,” Dubach said. “That’s something that we are asking you to take a look at. I was originally told that we’d have to change the Florida Constitution so we wouldn’t be able to do that, so if you could advise me on that that’d be wonderful.”
Measures have been filed in both the House and Senate this year calling for a constitutional amendment to require members of a district school board to be chosen in partisan elections. If approved, it would go into effect in 2026.
Florida voters voted overwhelmingly in 1998 to make school board races nonpartisan, and efforts to put such an amendment on the ballot have failed in recent legislative sessions. But that was before Gov. DeSantis weighed in on the topic last summer and endorsed 30 candidates in school board races, the majority of whom won either in their primary or general election contests last year.
The last item that Dubach mentioned was “some type of legislation” around the amount of mental health funding that public schools in Florida receive.
“Right now, Pinellas County schools have $140 million allocated for mental health, and I talk to teacher after teacher after teacher and they say, ‘We are not mental health counselors. We want to educate these children and get them ready for the next grade,’” Dubach told the group of legislators. “They don’t want anything to do with mental health. That is up to the parents, their doctors, and all of that stuff is at home.”
The Phoenix reached out to the Pinellas County School District to confirm those financial figures but did not immediately receive a response. State lawmakers have five more weeks of committee meetings scheduled between now and the official beginning of the legislative session on March 7.
–Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
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Pogo says
@The usual suspects are monkeying around
https://www.google.com/search?q=Who+is+behind+Moms+for+Liberty
Reminds me of something…
Harvey says
I say K-12. No one needs to be trying to indoctrinate kids under the age of 18 into changing their sex or trying to covert them to like the same sex.
The parental rights in education bill is a great bill and anyone that is against it is for the sexualization of children.
Deborah Coffey says
Um, Harvey, guess what. 30 years in education as a teacher and an Assistant Principal and no one IS indoctrinating kids…literally NO ONE. Now that I’m retired I have a new lesson plan for adults who believe these ridiculous fabrications to promote culture wars…Get. Real. News. Truth matters.
Sunny says
Thank you Ms Coffey! You are absolutely 💯 correct! Fear & Hate are carefully taught.
Deborah Coffey says
Yes, and at the moment, the Republican Party seems to have a monopoly on teaching fear and hate. That’s discouraging, but what is most discouraging is that so many people are falling for the lies.
Florida Voter says
Read what the law actually says: “Classroom instruction 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.”
The line: “Classroom instruction … on … gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3” means that any lesson referencing gender identity is ILLEGAL in K-3. It is ILLEGAL in Florida for a K-3 teacher to reference Mr. or Mrs., he or she, sister or brother, etc. Cisgender is gender identity. Titles based on cisgender is instruction on gender identity. This isn’t about “the sexualization of children,” this is about the fact that instruction (even indirect) on a fundamental part of our society is outlawed in Florida. This is a bad law. It is poorly written and overly vague.
This law needs to be repealed simply based on what it says and how badly it is written.
This law makes “boys” and “girls” K-3 school bathrooms ILLEGAL in Florida … at least according to how it is written.
Sunny says
Florida is being run on Fear& Hate!
Gramma says
I agree 100%
Heathen Lady says
Yes, let’s talk about “indoctrination”, Harvey. I don’t want my child indoctrinated into the Christian faith. Other families are members of non-Christian religions – or no religion- I’m sure they feel the same way. Yet that is what DeSantis and that crazy Mom’s groups are pushing.
I’m fed up with DeSantis and these groups. They are wrecking our public schools! I want my child to know the TRUTH about our nation’s history! The good, the bad, the ugly. Not lies that will “protect her feelings”.
And “parental rights”? Please. When they blather about “parental rights”, it’s obvious who they really mean.
Finally, Harvey claims that anybody who is against this nonsense is “for the sexualization of children”. That is a dirty lie and he knows it. Stop spreading lies, Harvey. It’s a poor example for the children.
Deborah Coffey says
Can we just call Moms for Liberty what they truly are? NAZIS. Thank you. It’s time for real Americans who love the Constitution and democracy to stand up to these vomitous groups.
Sunny says
Yes we can and should!
Florida Voter says
Wow. First: Once again we see the hypocrisy of these extremists. “Moms for Liberty” reference gender identity in their organization name, but advocate elimination to all gender identity references in K-3 (now K-8). They show that they somehow think that they deserve an exception and that “cisgender” isn’t gender identity (and presumably that “heterosexual” isn’t a sexual orientation). I also don’t see how laws that restrict education is advocating “liberty.” I guess the only word in their organization name that isn’t hypocritical is “for.”
Second, we see Mr. Wolf attack the presumed intent of the law, but omit the actual law. This is a “Don’t Say Straight” law. This law forbids ALL teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation in K-3. The pronouns “he” and “she” the titles “Mr.” and “Mrs.” even the “boys in pants” and “girls in a dress” images on bathroom doors are based on gender identity. This law forbids instruction on such topics in K-3. This law is poorly worded, overly broad and exceptionally vague.
It is illegal in Florida (maybe … to be determined through a lawsuit) for a K-3 teacher to teach lessons that reference mom/dad, sister/brother, he/she, Mr./Miss, etc. At least it is according to a strict reading of this law. Are teachers willing to take that risk? Will this only be settled when a teacher gets fired and then wins (or looses) a wrongful termination lawsuit?
MMSafety says
It’s not “right wing extremist” and no one is infringing on anyone’s rights. It is normal people who want to use COMMON SENSE and actual science instead of the garbage that the far left is pushing. Kids in school SHOULD NOT be inundated with sexual orientation lies and propaganda. As far as the mental health stuff, that’s not teachers, that’s beyond them. They should only be getting the training that they need to recognize danger signs and refer the children for evaluation.
What it REALLY comes down to is discipline and how most children are not getting it at home or at school and all of this feel good even when failing garbage.
Deborah Coffey says
“Kids in school SHOULD NOT be inundated with sexual orientation lies and propaganda.” They aren’t being inundated with anything of the sort but, you’re correct. There IS actual science on the topic. You might want to read it….Truth is Golden. Lies destroy a great nation.
Ray W. says
MMSafety’s comment raises once again the issue of whether common sense is a process or a result.
If common sense is a process, then we all have to go through it in our own way.
If common sense is a result, then MMSafety can decide for everyone else what it means, and no one can dare challenge her definition, else they be labeled abnormal. After all, according to MMSafety, all normal people agree with her definition of common sense.
Laurel says
Well, common is common. I think it (common sense) is more of a result; it’s an average sum of crowd (population?) experience. MMSafety, here, has decided for herself what common sense is, but she is actually still going through the process. Now, whether she pays attention or not is another question.
This can be fun!
Bartholomew says
They would probably be shocked to learn that students as young as 3rd grade (as far as I know) have hade sexual relationships at school….k-8, they are clueless about reality
Smitty says
Moms for Liberty should change their name to Moms for Repression. You can not be for liberty when you wish to define liberty as only your own liberty at the expense of other peoples liberty. Banning books and age apropriate education is not liberty. Parents are always free to control what their children see and hear and can explain thier own views to their children. They can not force other parents to believe their views. That is not liberty.
Michael Cocchiola says
Moms for Lunacy…excuse me, Liberal…whatever, is an extremist Republican front for the war on public schools. They wish only to force school system administrators, teachers, and students to replace education with right-wing indoctrination. They represent only 15% of our students, yet they seek to force all students to adhere to their implicit and explicit biases… racism, misogyny, and bigotry.
They must be stopped. Speak out !
BILL says
Obviously you do not have a grand child (or great grand child) who is being “FORCED” to determine at a “tender age’ in PUBLIC school to determine whether or not they are of their birthing gender. It is disgusting to hear what parents are going through because of it. Tell me a 5 or 6 year old isn’t confused when he or she is being told BY A TEACHER that they might not be little Sally or little Joey just because they didn’t say they wanted to be.
Get real! this is NOT a political issue when it comes to little children. It’s a common sense issue.
Pierre Tristam says
Mike doesn’t have a grandchild being forced to do what Bill describes because there aren’t any. Not one child has ever been “forced” to go through what these sex-obsessed neo-Victorian Comstockering pervs are claiming. At least with voter fraud you could always scrounge up a half-witted felon or two between Florida and Kansas who thought he’d cleared his record but went to the polls anyway, giving the Foxy nut jobs a chance to say we have a pandemic of voter fraud in all 55 states (I include of course Israel, the Cayman Islands, the breakaway junta at Maralego, Krypton, and wherever the moms for bigotry take their retreats to concoct their next rapes on children’s open minds). But with this? It’s got as much credibility as Elvis sightings in Mecca’s whorehouses.
Camera's don't Lie says
Then put camera’s with audio in the classrooms. Simple as that. PROVE their not being indoctrinated.
Pierre Tristam says
They’re not there to be proven innocent–they’re not there to be proven. Teachers are goddamn professionals who don’t need you or me, and certainly not voyeuristic politicians or insufferable, ignorent parents (as most parents are), spying on them. They’re doing fine. Trust them.
Deborah Coffey says
Thank you, Pierre. Is repeating the truth over and over again the best we can do for all these “conned” people? It is beyond discouraging how many lies they’ve believed just in the past several years…CRT, grooming sexual identities, vaccines are killing people, doctors are murdering babies…none of which are happening. I will say that today’s GOP is mastering the art of promoting Fascism. Again, thank you for all you’re doing every day to make “truth golden.”
Laurel says
Bill: I think that maybe you should become a substitute teacher. There is going to be a terrible shortage with all this political nonsense going on. No one wants to carry a gun and teach, and no one is teaching gender change. If you become a substitute teacher, you’ll see that the what is being said about what is supposedly being taught, is actually not being taught. You’ll see that parents already have rights, and have had rights since I was a kid. Then, by being in the classroom, you’ll see how the shows you are watching, and the governor we have, are lying to you. You’ll see how the supposed moms for liberty are really not too damned smart themselves, they’re just pushing their agendas on the rest of us.
Stop listening to the wackos and go see for yourself.
Deborah Coffey says
Laurel, we do NOT want Bill in any classroom in the country. He shouldn’t be near the children. There are better ways for him to learn reality.
Laurel says
Deborah: I completely disagree with you. I was once a substitute teacher, and the curriculum was already in place. Bill would learn first hand what really goes on in a classroom, and just how damned hard it really is to teach just the basics. There’ s no time for indoctrination of supposed bizarre behaviors. He can then see the truth first hand, and pass it on to his friends. He will see that he is currently being manipulated for the purpose of those who do not give a damn about kids or anyone else.
I love Pete Butttigieg! That man is one of the smartest persons out there, and I hope he will be President some day. He is smart enough to go on Fox Network and educate people to see another side rather than what they normally see on the redundant, confirmation networks. Brilliant!
PETE! :D
Robert Joseph Fortier says
WOW…You may wish to find a life Michael…Life is short.
Bill C says
The surest way to get youngsters to pursue interest in something is to tell them it is banned.