A Florida state congressman, convinced students in the state are being “subliminally indoctrinated with critical race theory, Marxism and transgender ideology”, has introduced a law that seeks to ban Pride flags from school and college campuses.
The Miami Republican David Borrero, an extremist who is simultaneously pushing a bill that would in effect ban all abortions in the state, also believes students are being “radicalized and evangelized” in Florida’s classrooms.
His proposed flag legislation – which advanced from a crucial rule of law subcommittee hearing on a 9-4 party line vote on Wednesday – would outlaw any flag that depicts a “racial, sexual orientation and gender, or political ideology viewpoint”. Teachers would also be prevented from wearing Pride or Black Lives Matter pins on their lapels if the legislation passes.
“Public classrooms should not be the place where our kids go to be radicalized and evangelized into accepting these partisan, radical ideologies,” Borrero said during the meeting of the constitutional rights, rule of law and government operations subcommittee.
“It’s wholly inappropriate to be putting those types of flags in front of public school students and in government buildings.”
Borrero’s bill would also prevent the flags at offices of state and local authorities, and public buildings throughout Florida.
Democrats pushed back against the proposal, the latest in a long line of attacks by Florida Republicans on LGBTQ+ rights. Other measures signed into law by the hard-right governor, Ron DeSantis, in recent months include the so-called Don’t Say Gay law banning classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity, restrictions on gender-affirming healthcare, and the banning of books, even including dictionaries, for perceived sexual or inappropriate content.
In the latest move against what DeSantis sees as “woke ideology” pervading Florida campuses, the state’s board of education on Wednesday banned public colleges and universities from using state or federal funding for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
“The legislature has overreached to vilify diversity, ban books and shame our LGBTQIA youth and adults,” the Democratic state senator Tracie Davis said at a press conference in Tallahassee for Equality Florida, highlighting what it calls a Republican “slate of hate” of new anti-trans bills.
“Banning books does not ban LGBTQ youth or adults and it will not eliminate them. Restricting access to Black, queer and other diverse media does nothing to protect our children – it actually harms them.”
Another Democratic state senator, Shevrin Jones, who is gay, told the committee meeting that Borrero’s bill, which also seeks to ban lawmakers displaying Pride flags in their offices, was “authoritarian”.
“Are we in Cuba? Are we in Russia? That’s fascism at its best,” he said, noting he had a colorful Pride at the Capitol poster in his office lobby.
“How I was raised, the rainbow meant hope. I can promise you – it wasn’t that that made me gay. I’m not taking a damn thing down. I want everybody to see it.”
Parents who spoke at the hearing pinned the blame on DeSantis, pointing out that his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination was tanking because the governor’s agenda is seen as too extreme.
“You are making enemies you are not supposed to have,” one father, who said he was a Republican, told the politicians, according to WFLA news. “We have seen proof that this has failed. DeSantis got the floor wiped with him, and you are anchoring your political careers to that sunk ship.”
The bill’s co-sponsor, the Republican state congressman Randy Fine, said critics “have no idea what they’re talking about”, and said he supported previously voiced comments that “the movement”, presumably meaning the LGBTQ+ community, was “trying to go too far”.
Michele Rayner, a Democratic congresswoman who is Black and lesbian, said she was angry that more anti-LGBTQ+ legislation was being introduced instead of measures to try to solve Florida’s affordable housing and property insurance crises.
“Once again, we’re focusing on things nobody has asked us to focus on,” she said.
The bill moves on for discussion in the Florida House’s state affairs committee, where its fate is uncertain. Similar legislation introduced by Borrero last year failed to advance from the same constitutional rights subcommittee it cleared on Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
