PoliFact | ‘Don’t say gay’ vs. ‘parental rights': Fact-checkg claims about Florida’s HB 1557

Contents:

• DO FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL VLATE THE FIRST AMENDMENT?
• 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL AIMED AT FLORIDA TEACHERS MAY VLATE STUNTS' RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH
• WHAT DO ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ ACTUALLY SAY?
• FLORIDA'S ANTI-GAY BILL IS WRONG. IT'S ALSO UNNSTUTNAL.
• WHAT THE BILL DUBBED ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BY CRICS ACTUALLY SAYS
• FACT-CHECKG 3 PROMENT CLAIMS ABOUT FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL
• DO THE 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL N AFOUL OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT OR ANY OTHER SPEECH RIGHTS?
• HERE'S WHAT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL WOULD DO AND WHAT WOULDN'T DO
• WHAT'S THE SO-LLED DON'T SAY GAY BILL THAT ULD IMPACT THE WHOLE UNTRY

DO FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL VLATE THE FIRST AMENDMENT?

Qutns have been raised as to whether Florida’s so-lled “Don’t Say Gay” bill vlat the First Amendment rights of teachers and stunts public primary schools the state.

All ey will be on Florida Monday as the so-lled Don’t Say Gay bill go before the full state Senate for nsiratn. But Calvert warned of a very likely “chillg effect, ” where teachers would be cled to censor themselv over fear of retributn om parents, who unr the bill would be granted greater thory to sue school districts believed to be vlatn of “Don’t Say Gay.

'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL AIMED AT FLORIDA TEACHERS MAY VLATE STUNTS' RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH

FLORIDA ‘DON’T SAY GAY BILL’ PASSES FINAL SENATE COMMITTEE. A new bill beg troduced Florida is aimed at banng teachers om discsg sexual orientatn or genr inty their classrooms, but 's the speech rights of stunts that the proposed legislatn uld ge Parental Rights Edutn bill, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill by crics, would prohib school districts om "enuragg classroom discsn about sexual orientatn or genr inty primary gra levels or a manner that is not age-appropriate or velopmentally appropriate for stunts. ‘Don’t say gay’ vs.

WHAT DO ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ ACTUALLY SAY?

But crics nicknamed HB 1557 the "don’t say gay" bill, warng isn’t necsary and mak some stunts feel unsafe by sglg out LGBTQ material as dangero and appropriate.

Dennis Baxley, R-Ola, the bill’s Senate sponsor who said he was addrsg "social engeerg" that uld rult more children intifyg as gay or transgenr. The guidance clus fns of terms related to sexual orientatn and genr inty — cludg gay, lbian and transgenr — that teachers are enuraged to e when applible. The word ‘gay’ is not banned Florida​.

FLORIDA'S ANTI-GAY BILL IS WRONG. IT'S ALSO UNNSTUTNAL.

People on Facebook and Twter have said that Florida Republins want to ban the word "gay" school. "GOP's 2022 platform: Ban books, Ban abortn, Ban Black history, Ban transgenr teens, Ban sayg ‘gay’ and Ban votg, " said Dean Obeidallah, a left-leang rad host and edian, on March 11. On SNL’s "Weekend Update" segment, anchor Col Jost told st member Kate McKnon, who is gay, that the bill "means that you n't acknowledge that 'gay' exists at all.

" McKnon then slammed the legislatn, sayg, "I am eply gay — sorry, eply ncerned. It jt seems like this is gog to make kids gay and trans — sorry, prsed and suicidal. The claims n largely be attributed to the legislatn’s "don’t say gay" nickname, ed by Equaly Florida.

The legislatn do not lerally prohib Floridians om sayg the word "gay, " but do prohib classroom stctn on "sexual orientatn or genr inty. Tampa Bay Tim, Republins ma chang to ‘don’t say gay’ bill.

WHAT THE BILL DUBBED ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BY CRICS ACTUALLY SAYS

Tampa Bay Tim, Florida’s ‘don’t say gay’ bill passed, head to DeSantis amid stunt protts, March 8, 2022. ’ Miami teachers react to passg of ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, March 10, 2022.

FACT-CHECKG 3 PROMENT CLAIMS ABOUT FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL

Today, we have an analysis of a piece of tn legislatn Florida that crics have referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” we have news of our own: We’re makg some chang to the Edutn Briefg.

DO THE 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL N AFOUL OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT OR ANY OTHER SPEECH RIGHTS?

See below for Asenc-Rhe/Tampa Bay Tim, via Associated PrsA close read of ‘Don’t Say Gay’Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is expected to sign Hoe Bill 1557, a proposed law that supporters ll the “Parental Rights Edutn” bill and opponents refer to as the “Don’t Say Gay” lleague Dana Goldste has done a close readg of the bill self, which is about much more than gay rights. Sentence has earned the bill the “Don’t Say Gay” nickname:L 97-101: Classroom stctn by school personnel or third parti on sexual orientatn or genr inty may not occur krgarten through gra 3 or a manner that is not age appropriate or velopmentally appropriate for stunts acrdance wh state impact is clear enough: Instctn on genr and sexualy would be nstraed all gras.

HERE'S WHAT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL WOULD DO AND WHAT WOULDN'T DO

That uld disurage a teacher om speakg about gay fai wh the whole class, even if some stunts have gay bill also targets mental health and unselg servic — a place where stunts often have difficult nversatns about genr inty and sexualy, pecially if they stggle to talk about those nversatns at as Florida revis s school unselg standards, adopted 2010, which affirm genr and sexual diversy unselg.

WHAT'S THE SO-LLED DON'T SAY GAY BILL THAT ULD IMPACT THE WHOLE UNTRY

Dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by s crics, HB 1557 ntas a ccial provisn that may seem harmls on s face — but unrm the fundamental ee speech and due procs rights of Florida teachers, stunts and n assume straight teachers are ls likely to be ught the crosshairs of HB 1557 than their LGBTQ provisn reads: “Classroom stctn by school personnel or third parti on sexual orientatn or genr inty may not occur krgarten through gra 3 or a manner that is not age appropriate or velopmentally appropriate for stunts acrdance wh state standards.

”For example, if a teacher who happens to be gay mentns her wife by name when scribg what she did wh her fay over wter break, thereby exprsg the fact that she’s married to a woman, do that unt as “stctg” stunts “on sexual orientatn”? What if a teacher — gay or straight — assigns a math problem that mentns that “Sally has two moms”? The unavoidable ncln is as stark as is simple: If “Don’t Say Gay” remas the law of the land Florida, some children may die who otherwise would have lived.