Teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity is prohibited until the third grade.
Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 2:06 PM
A proposed Florida Board of Education rule could expand restrictions on classroom teaching related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
“For grades 4-12, guidance about sexual orientation or gender identity is prohibited unless such guidance is expressly required by state academic standards…or is part of a reproductive health course or health lesson that the student’s parent has the option to not attend demanded it,” according to the proposed rule.
This rule would build on the Parental Rights in Education Act that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law in March 2022. The law prohibits classroom teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.
It states that any instruction on these subjects cannot take place “in a manner inappropriate for the age or developmentally appropriate to the students by state standards,” according to the legislation.
“There is no reason for teaching sexual orientation or gender identity to be part of K-12 public education. Stop it completely,” a spokesperson for the governor told ABC News’ Rachael Scott in a statement.
The law was dubbed the “Don’t Call Gay” law by critics, who said it was intended to banish LGBT identities from classroom content and discussions.
Laura McGinnis of LGBTQ advocacy group PFLAG told ABC News that “Everyone has a sexual orientation and gender identity. It seems like this rule would make it impossible to do much instruction at all.”
The rule, which was voted on by the seven-member board of directors, coincides with other legislation being considered in the state legislature.
HB 1223 prohibits classroom instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity in Pre-K through eighth grade, and no employee or student will be required to refer to another person using their “job title or preferred personal pronouns” if it does not correspond to that person’s gender. The proposed legislation would also make it statewide public school policy that “it is wrong to ascribe a pronoun to a person that does not correspond to that person’s sex.”
A hearing on the proposed board policy will be held April 19 at the Florida State Capitol complex.
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