The Florida Senate has passed HB 1069 by a vote of 27-12 which now heads to DeSantis expanding last year’s bigoted “Don’t Say LGBTQ” law extending the complete ban on “classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity” through 8th grade. The Don’t Say LGBTQ expansion bill also revokes a parent’s right to ensure that school personnel address their child with the correct name & pronouns forcing schools to rely exclusively on a student’s sex assigned at birth. The bill will also dramatically accelerates book banning efforts in Florida allowing any person in a county to automatically remove a book from school shelves pending a lengthy review on the grounds of certain objections. Jon Harris Maurer, Equality Florida Public Policy Director stated, “The Don’t Say LGBTQ law has already caused sweeping damage across our state. It was wrong when it was adopted & expanding it is wrong now. Books are being removed, rainbows are being censored from classrooms & districts are refusing to recognize the historical contributions of LGBTQ people for fear of the Governor’s wrath. This expansion exacerbates the damaging impacts being felt by students & families in Florida. Parents should have the right to ensure their children are respected in the classroom. Our schools should be celebrating the diverse families that make up our communities, not erasing them. Shame on Governor DeSantis & lawmakers perpetuating a political crusade against LGBTQ Floridians.”
HB 1069’s passage comes amidst an onslaught of anti-LGBTQ, anti-freedom bills that have been fast tracked by a GOP-led legislature acting as a rubber stamp for DeSantis’s agenda.
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