In states such as Florida and Texas, bills against the LGTBQ+ community, specifically LGBTQ+ youth, are being discussed and passed. In Florida, bill HB 1557, or the “Don’t Say Gay Bill,” as critics are calling it, limits when and how school staff are able to talk about sexual orientation and gender in the classroom. In Texas, an order sent by Gov. Greg Abbott directed state health agencies to investigate the parents of transgender youths using gender-affirming medical treatment as child abusers has been put into affect.
Many critics of the Florida and Texas bills are stating the bills harm young LGBTQ+ people who are already facing higher rates of bullying and a higher risk of suicide compared to heterosexual and cisgender peers.
According to Link Crew, Ethnic Studies and Advancement Via Individual Determination teacher Courtney Caldwell, the bill in Florida will lead to many negative consequences.
“The bills being passed in those states are really disheartening,” Caldwell said. “I feel like they make people feel unwelcomed, unwanted and less than in a community where they should feel like they belong.”
The Texas orders from Abbott were prompted after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote an opinion that stated how medical treatments given to transgender teens, such as puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy, should be investigated as child abuse under current Texas law. Abbott then elaborated that the reporting requirements for this child abuse applied to all doctors, nurses and teachers in contact with children who are possibly contributing to said abuse.
Republican sponsors of the Florida “Don’t Say Gay” bill claim its primary goal is to teach students about gender and sexuality at an appropriate age and to keep parents up to date on what is being discussed within their child’s classroom.
This bill also allows parents to have access to their child’s education and health records. Under an amendment to the bill, school employees would be forced to disclose students’ gender identities and sexual orientations if informed of them, regardless of potentially dangerous situations. According to junior and Gender Sexuality Awareness Treasurer Angel Luz, these bills will have disturbing effects on the LGBTQ+ community.
“It’s really horrible and it doesn’t really make much sense,” Luz said. “It’s kind of crazy, honestly. It reminds me of the abortion bill in Texas, and it shouldn’t be allowed to be made a law.”
Senior and GSA president Parker Guban explains the importance of talking about gender, sexuality and all aspects of the LGBTQ+ community within the classroom.
“[Discussion helps] make the LGBTQ+ community feel safe,” Guban said. “There’s a lot of people who aren’t out that would feel really bad about it. I feel bad and uncomfortable with the [bill] situation and hope that nothing goes through with it.”
Both the Florida bills and Texas orders have caused outrage across the country. School walkouts, among other protests against the bills and orders, have commenced.
In regards to what he thinks the response to the passed bills will be, Guban remains positive.
“Everyone will feel disappointed, but that [doesn’t] mean everyone would let go of the topic,” Guban said. “I think it’s going to make them push for better rules and make laws to avoid that kind of thing. It is really dehumanizing to the community.”
The club will wait to work to bring awareness to these issues for many reasons, including pending club officer elections and the difficulty of approaching discussion of these bills.
