As Florida`s `don`t say gay` bill goes into effect, schools impose problematic rules – WION
Earlier this year, Florida’s House of Representatives had approved a Republican-backed Parental Rights in Education bill famously dubbed by opponents as the “don’t say gay” bill. This legislation, which is set to take effect today, as per Reuters is part of a larger American debate about how sexual orientation and gender identity should be acknowledged in various institutions like schools, sports, and healthcare. Various LGBTQ+ groups have expressed their disapproval of the legislation. Florida-based non-profit PRISM, which provides support and education to young LGBTQ+ people, said that it is “extremely worried.” One of the organization’s co-founders Maxx Fenning said, “We’ve already seen the ways that school districts are proactively intending to essentially brace themselves for the widest interpretation possible of this legislation because it’s intentionally vague.”
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The ambiguity of the rule, according to Caroline Mala Corbin, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Miami, will cause self-censorship, commonly known in legal circles as the “chilling” effect.
“The law is really unclear. It’s really vague because what exactly counts as inappropriate discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation? Nobody knows. And the consequence of this is that schools and teachers are going to err on the side of caution. And so they’re going to end up censoring themselves.”
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According to NBC News, the state’s public school districts have already started implementing policies and rules to prevent discussions of LGBTQ issues and identities in the classroom.
In one incident Orange County Classroom Teachers Association representatives have claimed school administrators verbally ordered them to take down pictures of their gay spouses from their desks and to remove LGBTQ safety stickers from classroom doors.
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This bill prohibits teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity “in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards,” and it has been labelled as anti-LGBTQ by democrats.
(With inputs from agencies)
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