11 Simple Questions for Defenders of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Bill

…and two bonus questions to prove the absurdity of this crap and the people who support it

Tim Wise

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Image: FabrikaSimf, Shutterstock, standard license, purchased by author

Florida lawmakers insist that the recently-passed “Parent’s Rights in Education” bill is not a censorship law.

Nor is its purpose to discriminate against LGBTQ folks in the Sunshine State.

Despite opponents labeling the legislation the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, supporters swear it doesn’t prohibit teachers or school officials from saying the word gay, or any other word.

In fact, they point out, nowhere in the law do the words “gay” or “transgender” appear.

All lawmakers have done, they insist, is prevent teachers from providing “instruction” on sexual orientation or gender identity to students in Kindergarten through third grade.

After that, it requires any such discussions to be “age and developmentally appropriate.”

Who could object to that? They ask.

They then answer their own question: The only people who would oppose such a thing are pedophiles, or “groomers,” hoping to sexualize children for their own perverted ends.

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Tim Wise

Anti-racism educator and author of 9 books, including White Like Me and, most recently, Dispatches from the Race War (City Lights, December 2020)