Bills (HB 835/SB 1006) have been filed recently to safeguard ideological viewpoints in public schools.
The “Florida Student and School Personnel First Amendment and Religious Liberties Act,” introduced by Sen. Clay Yarborough and Rep. David Borrero, would add First Amendment “political and ideological” viewpoint protections against discrimination or “academic penalty” to current religious viewpoint and expression language in Florida Statute.
“A school district may not discriminate against or penalize a student on the basis of expressing a religious, political, or ideological viewpoint or for engaging in religious, political, or ideological expression in the same time, place, and manner and to the same extent that other similarly situated students may engage in speech or express views at a public school,” the Senate proposal reads.
The protections would apply to clubs and their “sincerely held beliefs,” such as the Turning Point USA chapters currently favored by conservatives, with some limited exceptions.
“Expression that is unwelcome, and so severe, pervasive, and subjectively and objectively offensive, that a student is effectively denied equal access to educational opportunities or benefits provided by the school” is exempted from the proposal.
Assuming the group’s viewpoints are not “unwelcome” or “offensive,” a cause of action would be created if a group’s speech is stifled, with potential punitive damages ranging from $15,000 to $25,000. Groups would have two years from the alleged censorship to file a claim.
The bill would take effect in July 2026 if enacted.
–A.G. Gancarski, Florida Politics
Merrill Shapiro says
I will accept criticism that I am overly cynical about the real purpose of HB 835/SB 1006, legislation that, I believe, is designed to protect Christian Religious Liberties. Under this bill, no student or student organization is limited in their right to let Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Scientology etc. students know that “No one comes to the father except through” Jesus. See the Gospel of John, Chapter 14, verse 6.
Repeating to Jewish students the words of Jesus in John, Chapter 8, verse 44, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” is protected, perhaps even encouraged under this legislation.
Finally, the idea that religious speech is to be treated the same way other speech is treated does not comport well with the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Speaking out against the evils of tobacco, driving while intoxicated or careless use of fire just isn’t the equivalent of speaking out for religious “truths” that make the faith of others “false.”
Our state legislators should follow in the footsteps of our great country’s founders and stay out of the business of religion.
Deborah Coffey says
Agree. I think you’re absolutely correct.