Gov. DeSantis signs controversial Parental Rights in Education bill, known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill

Saying that parents’ concerns about their children’s education are “being ignored increasingly” across the country, DeSantis lashed out at criticism of the bill.

“They support sexualizing kids in kindergarten,” DeSantis said of the bill’s critics. “They support injecting woke gender ideology into second-grade classrooms. They support enabling schools to, quote, transition students to a, quote, different gender without the knowledge of the parent. Much less, without the parents’ consent.”

Much of the seven-page bill is geared toward ensuring that schools cannot keep information from parents related to “critical decisions” about students’ well-being. School districts will be required to adopt procedures for notifying parents about any changes to services related to students’ mental, emotional or physical health.

But the part of the bill that fueled the controversy will prohibit instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.

For older grades, the bill will prohibit such instruction that “is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate” in accordance with state academic standards.

The bill’s detractors argued it will remove teachers as a lifeline for vulnerable LGBTQ youths and have a chilling effect on educators’ ability to talk about sensitive topics with students.

“The bill’s intentionally vague language leaves teachers afraid to talk to their students and opens up school districts to costly and frivolous litigation from those seeking to exclude LGBTQ people from any grade level. Even worse, #DontSayGay sends a hateful message to our most vulnerable youth who simply need our support,” Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando Democrat who is gay, said in a statement.

LGBTQ activist Lakey Love said the fear is that isolation will harm students already at risk of hurting themselves.

“Transgender children are at higher risk for suicidal ideation, and suicidal attempt, mental illness,” said Lakey, with the Florida Coalition for Transgender Liberation.

In Southwest Florida, LGBTQ activist Arlene Goldberg said she felt shame.

“I can’t believe he’s signing it,” Goldberg said. “I mean, it’s, we’re the laughingstock of the country. We really are.”

“Some parents can’t accept the fact that their kids are LGBT, or they think they’re LGBT. And who knows what they will do to them? You know, they’ll ostracize them. Some parents don’t don’t want the kids. They can’t deal with it. They don’t know how to deal with it. Because they’re uneducated.”

Parents can sue school districts for violations of the bill. The measure also provides an alternative process for resolving disputes that involves hearings before a special magistrate.

“That also adds to that chilling effect. It’s not just that they could complain, and then perhaps, you know, something might be done by the principal or something like that. There actually could be lawsuits that the legislature is allowed,” said Aubrey Jewett, a political scientist and professor at the University of Central Florida.

DeSantis on Monday disputed the “don’t say gay” moniker and accused legislative opponents and other critics of “sloganeering.”

“You’ve seen a lot of sloganeering and fake narratives by leftist politicians, by activists, by corporate media. And you still see it even today after a lot of this stuff has been debunked. Now, it’s true, many of the people who whipped this up have never actually read the bill. They haven’t taken the time to do that, they would rather just further narratives,” DeSantis said.