Students across Southwest Florida walk out to protest “Don’t say gay” bill

From Cape Coral to Fort Myers, students of every gender walked out of school at noon on Thursday to protest the “Don’t say gay” bill making its way through the state legislature.

If passed, the bill would keep schools from encouraging conversations about sexual orientation and gender identity.

The News Service of Florida reports the bill says classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity “may not occur” in kindergarten through third-grade, according to. For higher grade levels, the proposal calls for such instruction to be age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate as determined by state academic standards. The measure has drawn heavy opposition from groups that have repeatedly argued it singles out LGBTQ people.

The controversial bill is currently awaiting discussions on the Senate floor.

Students left their classrooms at Mariner High School, North Fort Myers High School, Gulf Coast High School, and countless others to stand together and show their unity for the LGBTQ community.

William Lopez, a senior at Gulf Coast High School, said he feels like he is being censored.

“It feels like the government doesn’t understand us,” Lopez said. “There’s so many civil rights movements that have happened recently and its easy to think ‘oh that was in the past, it’s all been resolved but its only recently when gay people were allowed to be married, 2015. The fact the government is taking a few step back to remove education about it and make it harder for it to advance at all. It’s just awful.”

Lopez believes the bill will impact LGBTQ students’ education and open the door to depression, suicide and bullying.

Students of every race and gender participated in the walkouts.

“I thought it was actually pretty interesting,” said one student named Adrian. “I’ve never seen anyone gathered around in the school en masse.”

Adrian said loves being in JROTC and loves marching with his classmates even more.

“A lot of the times you feel when you are in school, you’re kind of oppressed,” Adrian said. “But to see that the teachers and even the principal was there just watching and letting us go through was pretty surprising.”