On March 28, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the “Parental Rights in Education” bill into law. The contents of the bill, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by its opposers, can be broken down into three parts. First, the instruction or discussion of LGBTQ issues are banned until the third grade and for older students, the discussion has to be “age appropriate or developmentally appropriate.” Second, parents are allowed to sue school districts if they do not like certain teachings. Lastly, schools are required to tell parents when their child receives mental health services through the school.

This bill’s proposal in the Florida legislature and its eventual signing has resulted in a strong wave of national opposition, and I agree with the bill’s critics, especially when we look at the numbers. In 2019, a few years prior to the bill’s initial proposal, the Trevor Project reported that less than 50% of LGBTQ youth were out to an adult at school. With the passing of this bill, these numbers will likely continue to plummet.

Although every part of the bill poses a concern for the LGBTQ community on its own, it is the third component that strikes me to be the most harmful. The same study from the Trevor Project reported that 71% of LGBTQ youth reported feeling “sad or hopeless for at least two weeks” at some point that year. As a result of the bill’s supposed attempt to be transparent to families about what is happening to their children at school, it in fact opens the door to put students at risk if schools tell students’ families that they had discussed their identities while receiving mental health services.

An amendment that was later withdrawn from the bill required school principals to out students who had disclosed their queer identities to school faculty or staff to their parents or guardians. Although the withdrawal of this amendment from the proposed bill was a step in the right direction, many other elements of the bill remain incredibly problematic and harmful to students.

An example of mental health services at schools is counseling students pursued as a result of the previously mentioned feelings of hopelessness. As a result of the parameters of this bill, many students may avoid this option for support completely. Many individuals in the community already lack supportive spaces in their homes, so not having confidential support readily available at school poses a major challenge for youth just beginning to navigate their identities. Additionally, many individuals are not safe in their homes as a result of this lack of support. If families are informed about students’ sexual orientation or gender identity without consent, students who do not have supportive spaces could be put at risk of physical or emotional harm.

Many students in Florida have taken it upon themselves to outwardly oppose the bill through a series of walkouts during school hours. These students deserve the support of as many people around the country as possible so the momentum does not die out. Our governmental system, whether it be on the local, state or federal level, is supposed to represent the will of the people by its design.

If the Florida state government continues to ignore the outcry against this bill’s passage, it is only a matter of time until citizens get the opportunity to vote new officials into office. By showing support for those protesting, such as through the use of social media or signing petitions, we give them the motivation to continue and add to the movement against the bill as a whole — all while showing that if nothing is done there will be more opposers to the current official in office during the next election cycle.

This bill should be repealed through a new act of legislation. If this does not happen, it will continue to push a harmful agenda against the LGBTQ community and support the narrative that laws like these are acceptable. A similar bill has already been proposed in the Ohio state legislature following the successful passage of Florida’s bill. We cannot allow legislation such as this to continue being passed, so it is necessary that we continue to show opposition to this type of bill while we still have time.

Grace “Gray” Reed is a freshman magazine, news and digital journalism major. Their column appears bi-weekly. They can be reached at [email protected].

Published on April 11, 2022 at 11:31 pm