We want to be seen the same way that straight couples are seen in media.” We have lots of books in elementary school showing heterosexual couples, they have parent characters that are moms and dads, things like that. “What we’re talking about here is the right to be seen and represented in classrooms.
“The vagueness of the language in this bill opens an unfortunate door into allowing bigotry to continue,” said Caitlin Pearse, an elementary school music teacher in Hillsborough county, Florida. I believe that I’m a good teacher and have positively impacted students and that me being gay not only hasn’t been detrimental to their learning, but it has probably been helpful for a lot of people – not only LGBTQ+ students, but other students as well who see that I’m willing to live my life openly and that I believe everyone should be able to live their life with dignity and respect and we should be treating each other like fellow humans.” “I have a loving husband, we have a wonderful life together. It’s hurtful, because I don’t believe there’s anything inappropriate about my life as a gay man,” he said. “As a gay man, I find it both hurtful and insulting. McCracken characterized the bill and copy-cat legislative efforts spreading in other parts of the US as part of a war on gay cvil rights ignited by Republicans and is deeply concerned about the negative impacts of the bill on students and teachers. A teacher in St Johns county was reprimanded by their school district after a parent complained about his T-shirt, which said “Protect Trans Kids.” “Don’t say gay” also grants parents the right to sue for damages and attorney fees if a school district doesn’t resolve their complaint about a child’s education, which essentially forbids discussion of LGBTQ issues or identities. The bill, called the Parental Rights Education bill by its Republican authors, prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, as well as any instruction characterized as inappropriate – vague language that has incited concerns the bill will be used to suppress and intimidate mere acknowledgment of the LGBTQ community in public schools. The legislation has already begun to have a chilling effect on teachers, students and the LGBTQ community, though it doesn’t go into effect until July. The National Center for Lesbian Rights, Equality Florida, and Florida families have filed a lawsuit challenging the bill, arguing it is unconstitutional. When using a search engine such as Google, Bing or Yahoo check the safe search settings where you can exclude adult content sites from your search results Īsk your internet service provider if they offer additional filters īe responsible, know what your children are doing online.Florida’s teachers, students, and LGBTQ community are continuing to speak out against the bill that was signed by right-wing Trump-supporting governor Ron DeSantis last month. Use family filters of your operating systems and/or browsers
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