Florida will soon pass controversial legislation. Its sponsor claims that the media and the Biden administration have unfairly maligned and misrepresented the bill. Critics and media outlets have referred to the bill as the “Don’t Say Gay Bill”. It is expected that the bill will pass through Florida’s legislature on Thursday. This bill is being attacked by diverse LGBTQ groups and Democratic politicians for allowing gay words to be discussed in schools and targeting LGBTQ students.
Republican Florida State Rep. Joe Harding is the sponsor of House Bill 15.57. He claims that the bill’s text does not contain any of these things. Harding says the bill accomplishes two things. It gives parents more control over what their children learn about sexuality at school, according to Harding.
Harding, a father of four said that “one” means that certain instructions regarding gender and sexual orientation are inappropriate at certain ages. He defined that as kindergarten through the third grade. “A school that teaches gender orientation and what it means is not appropriate for my age.”
Harding said, “The second is that it creates an action plan for the parent who has to deal with a school district and decided that they will become the parent.” They will take your student with anxiety, stress, or self-harm and place them in mental health. They also take steps to improve the school’s services and protect the student. But they won’t engage with the parent. This is wrong, and our bill seeks a remedy.
Harding states that the curriculum in 13 Florida school districts encourages teachers to not talk to parents about changing gender identities or sexual orientation questions, but instead to let the school district deal with it.
Harding stated, “That’s just not right.” It’s both dangerous and wrong. The bill empowers parents by providing them with a legal remedy that allows them to determine if their school district is making these decisions in the absence of them.
Many media outlets have referred to the bill as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. This implies that gay conversations will be prohibited in schools. MSNBC’s headline this week suggested that the bill would “erase LGBT families from schools” and that it was an “attack on gay people.”
Equality Florida, a non-profit organization, also accuses Harding of trying “to erase LGTBQ people out of classrooms” by passing the bill.
Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary, and President Joe Biden have also criticized the bill. Biden tweeted earlier this month, calling the bill an “attack on LGBT children”.
Harding claims that the attacks on the bill are part a misinformation campaign.
Harding stated, “They said we were banning words, that people were being banned, and all other things that aren’t true.” “I believe that this is backfiring because the American people realized over the past five to six years that they don’t believe the things you’re telling them. Do your research.
Harding claims that his Democrat colleagues told him that while they saw no problem with the bill’s content when they discussed it privately, they slammed it when they were asked about it publicly.
Harding posted a direct reply to Biden and Psaki via Twitter. It has been viewed more than 50,000 times.
Harding states in the video that kids can and will discuss whatever topic interests them at school. “We want teachers to encourage that discussion at the appropriate age, and we want parents to be kept informed.”
Fox News’ Harding said that parents who feel that the best environment for their child to receive an education is in a school that engages them on crucial decisions are not concerned by the bill.
Harding said that parents should read the bill and ignore the noise, while acknowledging that it’s difficult to do in such a divided political climate.
Harding stated, “The greatest danger and the most dangerous lie is that the opposition to this bill is saying you can’t pro-parent and compassionate to the LGBTQ community.”
It is expected that the bill will pass the Florida House along with the companion bill in Senate on Thursday before it heads to Republican Florida Governor. Ron DeSantis’s desk.
DeSantis hasn’t yet said whether he will sign it, but he told Fox News earlier this month through Christina Pushaw, his press secretary that he would make his final decision once the entire bill is on the desk.
Pushaw agreed to Harding’s assessment about the media coverage of the bill. He stated that an “entirely false narrative” has been presented.
Pushaw stated that there is nothing in the bill that would prevent anyone from “saying gay”. It’s about age-appropriate education regarding gender and sexual orientation.
