Policy

Proposal to expand law on sexual orientation, gender identity moves in Florida Legislature

It would also restrict the way students and teachers can use their preferred pronouns in schools.

LGBTQ employees protesting CEO Bob Chapek's handling of the staff controversy over Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill, aka the "Parental Rights in Education" bill walk out from Walt Disney Animation on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 in Burbank, CA.

LGBTQ employees protesting CEO Bob Chapek's handling of the staff controversy over Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill, aka the "Parental Rights in Education" bill walk out from Walt Disney Animation on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 in Burbank, CA. Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

A Florida House panel Tuesday backed a proposal that would expand a controversial 2022 law barring instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades and restrict the way students and teachers can use their preferred pronouns in schools.

The Republican-controlled House Choice & Innovation Subcommittee voted 14-4 along almost-straight party lines to approve the proposal (HB 1223), after numerous LGBTQ advocates slammed the bill as harmful to vulnerable youths. Rep. Lisa Dunkley, D-Sunrise, voted with Republicans for the measure.

The 2022 law, which drew national attention and federal court challenges, prohibited instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade and required it to be “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate” in higher grades.

The new bill would extend the prohibition through eighth grade — reigniting a legislative debate about the 2022 law, which was formally titled the Parental Rights in Education Act but was derided by opponents as the “don’t say gay” bill.

“The bill reinforces that instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity is best left to parents and guardians within the home. And (such) classroom instruction is not appropriate for our youngest, most impressionable students,” Rep. Adam Anderson, a Palm Harbor Republican who is sponsoring this year’s proposal, said.

But Rin Alajaji, public policy associate with the LGBTQ-advocacy organization Equality Florida, pointed to effects on LGBTQ students.

“When we talk about sexual orientation and gender identity, that is about who we love and who we are. We have LGBTQ students in our schools right now. They deserve to be acknowledged and respected just like everyone else,” Alajaji said.

Critics also opposed the part of the bill that would restrict how preferred pronouns can be used in classrooms. The measure would prevent school employees from telling students their preferred pronouns if those pronouns “do not correspond to his or her sex” and would bar asking students about their preferred pronouns.

The bill says that it “shall be the policy” of every Florida public school that “a person's sex is an immutable biological trait and that it is false to ascribe to a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such person's sex.”

The State Board of Education would be authorized to adopt rules to carry out the pronoun part of the bill.

Anderson characterized the bill as being “about protecting the rights of all parents.”

“What we have to recognize here is that, in a classroom, using a specific title or pronoun for one student, while it may or may not be appropriate for that student, that’s up to the parent,” Anderson said. “But if it is potentially appropriate for that one student, we have to recognize that in that classroom there’s 19 or 20, 25 other students … and it may not be appropriate for those kids.”

Javier Gomez with Equality Florida echoed several other opponents by asserting that lawmakers are misguided in focusing on use of pronouns.

“There are other pressing issues than pronouns. Come on, like, be serious. There is a housing crisis, climate change, mass shootings, and you’re seriously worried about protecting youth from queerness? I have to laugh as a constituent,” Gomez said.

The House panel approved a change to define “sex” in the bill.

“‘Sex’ means the classification of a person as either female or male based on the organization of the body of such person for a specific reproductive role, as indicated by the person's sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, and internal and external genitalia present at birth,” the revision said.

Meanwhile, the panel rejected a proposal by Rep. Rita Harris, D-Orlando, that, in part, would have required school employees to refer to students by their chosen pronouns unless parents notified the students’ principals that different pronouns should be used.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has made combating “gender ideology” in schools a pillar of his education agenda as he is widely viewed as a potential 2024 presidential contender, last week reiterated his focus on the issue.

“We need to focus on the basics of academics. We need to focus on reading, writing, math, all of these different things. That is what unites parents and unites us. When you start getting into things like gender ideology, it’s very divisive. The majority of parents in Florida, I can tell you, do not want that in the schools,” DeSantis told reporters on the opening day of the legislative session.

Opponents of the bill, including Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, have characterized it as being politically motivated.

“I think this bill is just a way to create a culture war and a way to erase a community,” Nixon said.

This is a free News Service of Florida story for City & State Florida readers. For more of the most comprehensive and in-depth political and policy news, consider a subscription, beginning with a 10-day free trial. Click here to sign up!

NEXT STORY: Sides in federal lawsuit battle over Florida transgender athlete law

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.