Kamala Harris claims Florida ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law prevents teachers from being ‘able to love openly’ – Daily Mail

Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday claimed Florida‘s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law is keeping teachers of young students from the ability to ‘love openly.’

Harris had been asked about why young people, who have been largely disenchanted with the Biden administration, should keep turning out at the ballot box. She warned that it was a matter of the fundamental right to vote. 

‘We all know your right to vote and the action of voting unlocks all the other rights, including same-sex marriage,’ the vice president said during an interview with journalist Brian Tyler Cohen.

‘Including whether we are going to stand up against a law that says “Don’t Say Gay,” restricting kindergarten through third grade teachers to be able to love openly and teach what they believe is important for people to understand.’ 

Harris also tore into ‘so-called leaders’ passing restrictions on abortion access in the wake of the Supreme Court‘s ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade.

Without mentioning them by name, Harris went after Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for their state’s limits on abortion following the high court ruling. 

 ‘We have governors from Florida to Texas and other states who are approaching this from an extremist position, that is definitely about attacking the rights of women to make decisions about their own body,’ she said.

‘These various states with these extremist, so-called leaders are passing laws that make it more difficult for a woman to have access to reproductive care and to abortion.’

She later hit DeSantis again when she criticized his Parental Rights In Education law, dubbed ‘Don’t Say Gay’ by opponents. 

The controversial law’s text says that ‘classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.’

Critics of the law claimed it would stifle an already marginalized community – LGBTQ+ Americans – at a critical time in their development. 

They’re also concerned it restricts them from confiding in school counselors and nurses – in some cases, the only adults they can open up to. 

In addition to banning academic discussion on gender identity and sexual orientation, the law also requires public school districts to put procedures in place to require school officials to report a shift in a student’s ‘services or monitoring related to the student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being’ to their parents.

It also allows parents to sue schools and school districts for running afoul of the new law.

The law’s supporters point out that the word ‘gay’ does not appear in the legislation. 

But the majority of Harris’ Sunday interview focused on abortion access in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning federal protections for the procedure.

She ruled out expanding the Supreme Court to even out its conservative majority as a viable measure, insisting she was looking at solutions grounded in ‘reality.’

‘I think what we’ve got to do right now is deal with what we’ve got in front of us, and the reality is that we don’t even have the votes in the United States Senate to codify Roe,’ Harris said.

‘The president has been clear that expansion of the court is not something that’s on the table, so let’s focus right now on what we need to do around winning this election with pro-choice, you know, people.’

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