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‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill requires students to be ‘outed’ — Analysis

A Florida amendment sets strict deadlines within which teachers are required to inform their LGBTQ students.

Florida legislation that prohibits educators from discussing topic related to homosexual orientation or gender identity was amended. This amendment would have required school personnel like counselors and teachers to notify parents within six weeks about their child’s orientation. 

The bill has come under scrutiny and been dubbed the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill by media outlets and pundits critical of the proposals, which would also give parents room to sue a primary school they believe is violating the order. 

The bill’s co-sponsor, Republican state Rep. Joe Harding, filed the new amendment on Friday. It requires that “the school principal or his or her designee shall develop a plan, using all available governmental resources, to disclose such information within 6 weeks after the decision to withhold such information from the parent.”

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An exception was previously offered in the legislation that would provide an exemption for some students being ‘outed’ to their parents if educators feared it could lead to abuse at home, local affiliate WFLA noted. 

State Rep. Charles G. Smith, who says on his Twitter that he is Florida’s “first LGBTQ Latino legislator,” said in a tweet blasting Harding’s amendment that it would have “devastating consequences for our youth.” 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has expressed support for the bill, and it will be facing a vote in the state House this week, along with multiple amendments, including Harding’s, but many activist groups have publicly opposed the bill. The White House claimed earlier this month that the legislation is “designed to target and attack kids”Who are LGBTQ. 

Rep. Ana Eskamani will cast a voice vote on one of the amendments. This would permit students to sue Florida Department of Education in any way they choose. “irreparable harm”Their sexual orientation is revealed.

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