Florida teachers can discuss sexual orientation and gender identity under ‘Don’t Talk Gay’ bill settlement

Students and teachers will be able to speak freely about sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms as long as it is not part of the instruction, according to a settlement reached Monday by state education officials and civil rights attorneys. Don’t say gay. “

The settlement clarifies what Florida classrooms are allowed to do after passing a law two years ago banning the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades. Opponents say the law creates confusion about whether teachers can identify themselves as LGBTQ+ or if they can wear rainbow stickers in their classrooms.

Other states have used Florida’s law as a template to ban classroom instruction about gender identity or sexual orientation. States such as Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky and North Carolina have enacted the law.

Under the terms of the settlement, the Florida State Board of Education will issue instructions to each school district stating that Florida law does not prohibit discussions of LGBTQ+ people, does not prevent anti-bullying rules based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and does not prohibit gay-straight alliance groups. The settlement also makes clear that the law is gender-neutral — meaning laws that apply to LGBTQ+ people also apply to straight people — and does not apply to library books not used for classroom instruction.

The law also does not apply to books that occasionally mention LGBTQ+ characters or same-sex couples “because they are not instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity, just as a math problem asking students to add a bushel of apples is not instruction about agriculture.” According to the settlement agreement.

“What this settlement does is it reaffirms the fundamental principle that I hope all Americans agree on, which is that every child in this country has the right to be educated in public schools where they feel safe and their dignity is respected With respect, their families and their parents are welcome,” Roberta Kaplan, the plaintiffs’ lead attorney, said in an interview. “This shouldn’t be a controversial matter.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office called the deal a “major victory” in a statement and left the law, formally known as the Parental Education Rights Act, unchanged.

“We fought hard to ensure that this law would not be publicly vilified in court by the media and large corporate actors,” said Florida attorney Ryan Newman. “We won a victory under the Parental Educational Rights Act. Florida’s classroom will remain a safe place.”

The bill has been supported by Republican governors since it was passed by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature in 2022. It bans teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade and was expanded to all grades last year.
Republican lawmakers argue that parents should discuss these topics with their children and that the law protects children from being taught inappropriate material.

But opponents of the law say it has a chilling effect in classrooms. Some teachers said they were unsure whether pictures of same-sex couples could be mentioned or shown in class. In some cases, books dealing with LGBTQ+ themes have been pulled from classrooms and lines mentioning sexual orientation have been removed from school musicals. In 2022, the Miami-Dade County School Board decided not to pass a resolution recognizing LGBTQ History Month, even though it had done so a year earlier.

The law also sets off an ongoing legal battle between DeSantis and Disney over control of the Walt Disney World jurisdiction in central Florida after DeSantis took control of the government in what the company said was its opposition to the legislation revenge. DeSantis touted the fight against Disney during his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, which he ended earlier this year.

Civil rights lawyers sued Florida education officials on behalf of teachers, students and parents, claiming the law was unconstitutional, but a federal judge in Tallahassee dismissed the case last year, saying they did not have standing to sue. The case was appealed to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Kaplan said they were confident the appeals court would overturn the lower court’s ruling, but continued litigation would delay a resolution for several more years.

“The last thing we want is for Florida’s children to see more delays,” Kaplan said.