When Republican lawmakers were pushing Florida’s new “parental rights” law this year, they feigned indignation when critics labeled it “Don’t Say Gay.” They boasted the word “gay” wasn’t even in the legislation. They acted as if critics were hysterical for worrying schools would be forced to out LGBTQ students to their parents and dismantle polices that protect transgender kids.
Indeed, the word “gay” wasn’t mentioned in the “Parental Rights in Education” bill. The trick, it seems, is that it was purposely vaguely worded to avoid any accusations of homophobia. Even after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the law, Miami-Dade County Public Schools officials had no idea what it would mean for them.
Now that the state has come back to the district to ask it to conform to the new law, it’s crystal clear what Republicans wanted to achieve. In a letter to the district, the Florida Department of Education, which answers to DeSantis, listed a number of school policies that might fall out of compliance with the new statute or rules created by state regulators. They center on the district’s “Guidance to Support Transgender and Gender Expansive Students.”
