What the right is claiming is any discussion of gay, trans, or same sex couples is sexualizing kids. Even talking about the existence of same sex families and of gay / trans kids in class is harmful to kids. It again is the Russian model and it is easier to pass regressive restrictions on society if you claim it is to protect kids. We all want to protect kids, but the truth is the right only wants to protect straight white Christian kids. The rest are going to hell anyway and might even have demons in them. This will not stop until they get what they want, a regressive white straight Christian state that enforces their view of religious values. Rufo has admitted the goal is to make New College over in the image of a deeply conservative Christian school, and use it as the model for all education systems. And they are coming for the entire country unless people wake up and fight against them now. Oh and the point is to indoctrinate the kids and then the public in the deeply right republican mode of how society must be without exceptions. the indoctrination they claim they are fight the left over is inclusion, diversity, and tolerance of others. That is something the right is fighting with all they have. They cannot have acceptance or even tolerance of those different from themselves. We must not let them win this fight and become the US Taliban. Hugs
Gov. Ron DeSantisPhoto: ShutterstockThe office of Florida Gov. DeSantis (R) has confirmed that the anti-LGBTQ+ governor is supportive of extending the stipulations of the state’s Don’t Say Gay law – known formally as the Parental Rights in Education Act.
Right now, the law bans discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity up to third grade, and a staffer for the state’s Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (R) told The Daily Mail that lawmakers are thinking about introducing legislation to expand the law up to sixth grade.
In a press conference in December, Passidomo expanded on this, saying that she doesn’t think she’d “be supportive of high school because kids in high school are, hopefully, a little more mature, or at least they should be, but you know, the middle school, maybe go up to 6th grade or something like that.”
DeSantis Press Secretary Bryan Griffin then said that “The governor would certainly consider the merits of such a bill in final form if it comes to his desk as a product of the forthcoming legislation session.”
Griffin said DeSantis often expresses his belief that “the purpose of our education system is to educate kids, not indoctrinate kids.”
In addition to banning classroom instruction on LGBTQ+ issues up to third grade, the law as it currently stands also requires in vague terms that discussions on the topic in older grades be “developmentally appropriate.”
Instead of defining those terms, the bill allows parents to sue schools if they believe the law was violated.
DeSantis’s support for increasing the age range for the Don’t Say Gay law is not a surprise, as he has made it clear he is virulently opposed to protecting LGBTQ+ students.
In December, it was revealed that DeSantis helped members of the anti-LGBTQ+ group Moms for Liberty get elected to local school boards in his state.
An educational anti-censorship expert says this development is part of DeSantis’ plan to shift his state’s schools toward a conservative ideology. With Moms for Liberty in control, curricula will exclude LGBTQ+-inclusive and anti-racist education.
And more recently, DeSantis appointed the far-right anti-LGBTQ+ activist Christopher Rufo to the board of trustees of the New College of Florida – a school with a reputation for being progressive and queer-friendly.
Rufo told the New York Times the board is planning a “top-down restructuring” of the school that will involve designing “a new core curriculum from scratch.”
“If we can take this high-risk, high-reward gambit and turn it into a victory,” he said, “we’re going to see conservative state legislators starting to reconquer public institutions all over the United States.”
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