On March 8, Florida lawmakers passed the “Parental Rights In Education” bill. The bill moves to limit education and discussion surrounding gender and sexuality, while also restricting student access to counseling in schools without parental consent. The bill declares that all classroom instruction concerning gender and sexuality cannot occur in grades kindergarten through third. Topics that do not abide by state regulations and what the Florida government deems “appropriate” cannot be discussed. The bill also hinders the provision of free, confidential counseling for students. Schools would be required to inform parents if their student is utilizing any health services and parents would be allowed to withdraw their child from counseling without the consent of the student. It is set to go into effect on July 1, numbering the days that the students in Florida and Texas will be able to explore their identities and seek help without consequence.
The “Don’t Say Gay” Bill, as it is referred to by critics, is an oppressive policy that targets discussion surrounding gender and sexuality. Republican lawmakers, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, are unfortunately intent on seeing this policy through. Abbott even referred to gender-affirming education as “child abuse” in a directive. That phrase in itself demonstrates disregard for the adolescents whose lives this bill would destroy. Claiming that educating children about identities they may associate themselves with is abuse is prejudice toward the LGBTQ+ community. It’s an appalling accusation, shamefully ignorant and rooted in bigotry, having the capacity to greatly harm the very people DeSantis claims he wants to protect.
Democrats have established that this bill will endanger the safety of LGBTQ+ students and will result in the forced outing of adolescents to an unsupportive parent if enforced. President Joe Biden has described this piece of legislation as hateful in a recent tweet, an accurate summary considering that the bill does nothing to aid students, but makes it more difficult for children to explore their identities without judgment. The bill is one continuous kick in the gut to every closeted child in these states and needs to be rejected.
“This is one of the most openly oppressive bills of the 21st century”
Ultimately, the bill in itself is completely useless. Limiting education on gender and sexual identity in schools will do nothing to stop children from learning about it through the internet or other means. Gender and sexuality are not learnt; they’re fundamental and based solely on the person’s own feelings and identity. They cannot just be developed by someone illuminating the topic for someone else.
This bill is one of the most openly oppressive pieces of legislation of the 21st century. Not only does it make it so much harder for America’s youth to explore identity, but it makes it much more difficult to find someone to confide in about such topics. If a child can’t talk about their struggles with a counselor without their parents finding out and having the ability to remove them from this counseling, then what other outlets do they have? The impact this would have on students in intolerant or abusive home environments would be catastrophic. The only foreseeable result would be increased depression and anxiety in teens and perhaps even a higher suicide rate in adolescents.
If the goal of this bill is to help keep children safe, then the “safest” action to be taken is to burn it to the ground. Legislation must combat these bills and make sure they don’t advance any further than it already has and causes any permanent damage to America more than it already has.
