Florida Board Passes DeSantis Law Extension Titled Don’t Say Gay By NBC 6 South Florida Critics

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The Florida Board of Education on Wednesday approved a ban on classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity at all grades, broadening the appeal of Don’t Say Gay law critics to demand of Governor Ron DeSantis as he prepares for an expected presidential election. .

The proposal will take effect after about a month’s procedural notice, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Education.

The rule change would ban lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in grades 4-12, unless required by existing national standards or as part of teaching about reproductive health that students can choose not to follow. Florida currently prohibits such classes from kindergarten through third grade.

The DeSantis administration introduced the proposal last month as part of the Republican’s aggressive conservative agenda, with the governor leaning heavily on cultural divides ahead of his impending White House bid.

DeSantis has not commented on the proposal. He previously directed questions to Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr., who said it was intended to clarify confusion around the existing law and reinforce that teachers should not stray from existing curricula.

Our instruction should be based on state academic standards, Paul Burns, chancellor of the state’s public schools division, told council members Wednesday.

The ban, which began last year with the law banning kindergarten through third grade sexual orientation and gender identity classes, has drawn strong backlash from critics who say it marginalizes LGBTQ+ people and contains vague terms that lead to teacher self-censorship. Democratic President Joe Biden called it hateful.

The current law is also behind an ongoing feud with Disney, one of the state’s largest employers and political donors.

The entertainment giant publicly opposed the legislation last year, and as punishment, DeSantis pushed lawmakers to give him control of an autonomous district that Disney oversees at its theme parks.

Before a set of new DeSantis appointees could take control of the district, Disney’s board of directors passed restrictive covenants that stripped the new members of most of their powers, blunting retaliation from the governors.

DeSantis ordered the Chief Inspector General to investigate the move by Disney’s boards and promised to take further revenge on the company through legislation.

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