Category: Schools / Schooling / Education / Libraries
Florida School: Teacher’s Pro-Confederacy Video Is OK
If you think racism is dead and doesn’t exist in Florida, you are wrong. It is being openly taught in Florida schools. A teacher is facing discipline and may lose her job because she showed a Disney animated movie that included a gay 16-year-old boy. That movie had no gay sex and very little talk about the boy’s feelings. But a teacher promoting: “Every year our state celebrates and memorializes that valiant, brave fight and the countless sacrifices by our men and women during what is known as the Civil War, but may be more correctly titled the War To Prevent Southern Independence, he said”, has been found to have done nothing wrong. Despite many parents complaining. Many upset parents. One parent complaint to get a teacher fired for showing just the existence of an openly gay character in a children’s movie, but many parents complaining and they are ignored when a teacher promotes racism. The entire reason the South started the civil war was they demanded to not only be allowed to keep humans as property, as slaves, but they wanted to expand that country wide. It was entirely about slavery, their own leaders wrote that themselves. Think if you are a person of color in that school, a black student maybe, think how that hits knowing a teacher is praising the very people who fought to keep you not only without rights but as their personal property to do with as they wish. Do you think black students can get fair grades, fair treatment, fair discipline compared to the white kids? Just as that teacher in Illinois said when she faced criticism for letting students read a book about coming out, she claimed that she figured she had gay students in her classes. I bet there are kids of color in the classrooms when this racist teacher showed that movie. Btw, Collier County is the next one below the one I live in. Hugs
The Daily Beast reports:
A Florida middle-school teacher who had his class watch a self-made, pro-Confederacy video for Confederate History Month has filed a complaint against his school district for launching an investigation into his questionable teaching practices. Collier County Public Schools looked into a video that Manatee Middle School social studies teacher Jonathan Papanikolaou had his students watch during morning announcements on April 12.
Collier County Public Schools told The Daily Beast that its employee review committee met on April 27 and May 11, and went through a 90-page report about Papanikolaou’s Confederacy lesson. Ultimately the committee found that the lesson didn’t go against the school’s curriculum and there was “no just cause for discipline” despite outrage from parents and community members.
From my report posted last month:
The school district wouldn’t identify the teacher but said they are investigating. “If you didn’t know, April is an officially celebrated month here in the State of Florida named Confederate History Month,” the teacher said in the video.
“Every year our state celebrates and memorializes that valiant, brave fight and the countless sacrifices by our men and women during what is known as the Civil War, but may be more correctly titled the War To Prevent Southern Independence,” he said.
So not only is the video no cause for discipline, the teacher is filing a complaint because it was even questioned. Collier County is on the southwest coast of Florida.
Pro-Confederacy Teacher Complains About School District’s Probe
Listen to article3 minutesA Florida middle-school teacher who had his class watch a self-made, pro-Confederacy video for Confederate History Month has filed a complaint against his school district for launching an investigation into his questionable teaching practices.
Collier County Public Schools looked into a video that Manatee Middle School social studies teacher Jonathan Papanikolaou had his students watch during morning announcements on April 12, local outlet ABC 7 Southwest Florida reported.
“Every year, our state celebrates and memorializes that valiant, brave fight and the countless sacrifices by our men and women during that known as the Civil War, but may be more correctly titled the War To Prevent Southern Independence,” Papanikolaou reportedly narrated in the video.
In the lesson, Papanikolaou allegedly taught about “slaves and property rights, over taxation and a variety of violations of state’s right and sovereignty,” according to ABC 7.
Collier County Public Schools told The Daily Beast that its employee review committee met on April 27 and May 11, and went through a 90-page report about Papanikolaou’s Confederacy lesson. Ultimately the committee found that the lesson didn’t go against the school’s curriculum and there was “no just cause for discipline” despite outrage from parents and community members.
A district spokesperson also told The Daily Beast that morning announcements had been evaluated, and were previewed before they were presented to students.
“The Manatee Middle School principal met with his staff to openly discuss the issues, and he continues to maintain open lines of communication for students, staff, and parents on this and any other school-related issue,” the spokesperson said.
But one Manatee parent, Christina Cooper, told ABC7, “I think there’s just cause for some type of disciplinary action.”
What’s more, Papanikolaou then filed a complaint against the review committee, claiming the investigation caused a “hostile work environment” because colleagues were asking why he’s racist.
In the complaint, Papanikolaou said the ordeal “has caused [him] grief and awkwardness in classroom and school exchanges” and that some students were no longer comfortable taking his class.
“This situation has created emotional turmoil for myself,” he said.
Collier County Public Schools declined to provide the entire contents of Papanikolaou’s video to The Daily Beast or comment on any requests the teacher made in his complaint against the district.
White Christian nationalism emerges from shadows of GOP politics
Great Zeus, this is scary, the push by Christian nationalist to indoctrinate every public school kid with their religion. They don’t care if the kids have a different religious faith or no faith at all, it is entirely about expanding their faith on to everyone in the public square. They feel driven to push their god and their doctrines, regardless of anything else. A good point asked by this Texas lawmaker was why a rainbow flag is called indoctrination by these Christians pushing their religion, yet demanding the posting of the ten commandments in schools and installing Christian pastors as untrained councilors is not. Well worth the time to watch. Hugs
Texas State Rep. James Talarico and Michelle Goldberg, columnist for the New York Times, talk with Alex Wagner about a push by Texas Republicans to impose new religious measures on public schools, and the shift in Republican politics to more openly embrace white Christian nationalism.
Threats against the LGBTQIA+ community intensifying: Department of Homeland Security
I wonder why with all the slurs and garbage spewed by the right wing religious haters and republicans in office. Talk about stoking anger and making a minority group targets for the right wing gang thugs. Hugs
Anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation has been introduced in recent months.
ByJosh Margolin and Teddy Grant
May 15, 2023, 8:32 PM

1:27
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National headlines from ABC News
National headlines from ABC News
Catch up on the developing stories making headlines.
Threats of violence against the LGBTQIA+ community are on the rise and intensifying, according to a new briefing by the Department of Homeland Security.
The DHS document, distributed to government and law enforcement agencies on May 11, said that domestic violence extremists and people who commit hate crimes have increased threats of violence against the LGBTQIA+ community within the last year.
“These issues include actions linked to drag-themed events, gender-affirming care, and LGBTQIA+ curricula in schools,” DHS said.MORE: LGBTQ group targeted in alleged ‘slaughter’ threat in response to Nashville shooting
DHS said that the issues inspiring threats and calls of violence against the LGBTQIA+ community could lead to a rise of potential attacks against larger targets, such as public spaces and healthcare sites that may be linked to the community.
DHS analysts also cite social media chatter celebrating the recent mass shooting at a Nashville church school.
“High-profile attacks against schools and faith-based institutions like the recent shooting in Nashville have historically served as inspiration for individuals to conduct copycat attacks,” DHS said.

In recent months, politicians in Tennessee, Florida and other Republican-run states have introduced legislation that critics say targets the LGBTQIA+ community.

In March 2022, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education bill, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by detractors.
The bill banned classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. Last month, the Florida Board of Education expanded those restrictions to include all grades. In March, Tennessee became the first state to restrict public drag performances.MORE: Public drag performances restricted in Tennessee
HB 9 and SB 3, signed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, make “a person who engages in an adult cabaret performance on public property” — or where it can be viewed by minors — a criminal offense.
Last month, a federal judge temporarily blocked the law, saying it was vaguely written and overly broad, according to AP.
At least 14 states have passed laws or policies that restrict gender-affirming care for people under the age of legal majority, which is the threshold for legal adulthood.
According to DHS, about 20% of all hate crimes reported throughout the country in 2021 were motivated by bias linked to sexual orientation and gender, citing the FBI’s hate crime statistics.
ABC News’ Kiara Alfonseca contributed to this report.
DeSantis signs laws against trans care, kids at drag shows, trans athletes
I want to point out that DeathSantis like all republicans when it comes to social medical matters lies about it. At one point, he claims that:
DeSantis said the push for the care was by an “ideologically charged small group of folks” and this is why he was signing Florida Senate Bill 254 into law to grant courts temporary emergency jurisdiction to intervene in some procedures.
“That is not based on science; that is not based on evidence,” DeSantis said …”
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association support gender-affirming care, which includes the surgical procedures and prescriptions for blockers or hormone antagonists that DeSantis and Florida Republican legislators are standing against.
DeathSantis also said this about being polite enough to call people by what makes them happy instead of being an asshole to others. DeSantis said the new law makes sure that Florida students and teachers will never “be forced” to declare pronouns in schools or “be forced” to use pronouns “not based on biological sex” as part of an “indoctrination” effort known as transgender ideology and gender theory. “We never did this through all of human history until like what two weeks ago, now this is something? They are having third-graders declare pronouns. We are not doing the pronouns Olympics in Florida,” DeSantis said.
The idea that kids, even little kids, do not understand pronouns is stupid. Teacher Miss or teacher Mrs / Mr clearly establishes gender. Boys bathroom, girls PE, when they are read a story they hear he, she, they, them. He ran, she jumped, they carried, someone spoke to them. See it is all around us, kids see and hear pronouns / gender identifiers all the time. Just as most kids know their sexual orientation and who they’re attracted to. To deny that gay kids exist and that gay / same sex married teachers are not a thing is harmful. It deprives these kids of seeing people like themselves, who have their feelings, just so the Christian conservatives can push being gay is shameful and bad. It isn’t as we know now, and gay kids shouldn’t be traumatized by being made to feel they are wrong and broken. We have lived through that, we have progressed social beyond that, and medical science has shown that people are born gay / trans.
As for the bans on drag shows, remember there are already laws against taking minors to sex shows, adult entertainment, strip shows. These laws are about keeping kids from seeing men dressed as women and women dressed as men. That is what it is about. That is why they are singling out drag shows which are not sexual, especially the family friendly or drag queens story hours. See it is hard for conservatives to enforce gender stereotype norms from the 1950s. The old men were men trope. Hugs
LOL the USPS certainly has a terrific sense of irony, I just wonder how long it will take DeSantis to try TRY to outlaw these for “indoctrinating children”. Love it! Buy’em up! Mail Ronny boy a letter with these!
DeSantis signs 5 new laws, including expansion of law critics know as ‘Don’t Say Gay’
TAMPA, Fla. – During his Wednesday morning speech, Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized gender-affirming care, a medical intervention when an individual’s gender identity is different than the one assigned at birth.
While at a non-denominational Christian private school in Tampa, DeSantis stood on a stage behind a “Let Kids Be Kids” sign to say that a “rogue element of the medical establishment” was engaging in “basically the mutilation of minors.”
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DeSantis said the push for the care was by an “ideologically charged small group of folks” and this is why he was signing Florida Senate Bill 254 into law to grant courts temporary emergency jurisdiction to intervene in some procedures.
“That is not based on science; that is not based on evidence,” DeSantis said during his visit to the Cambridge Christian School, a college preparatory school accredited by Christian Schools of Florida.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association support gender-affirming care, which includes the surgical procedures and prescriptions for blockers or hormone antagonists that DeSantis and Florida Republican legislators are standing against.
“This is going to create a way to recover damages for injury or death resulting from mutilating surgeries or these experimental puberty blockers that are given to a minor,” DeSantis said adding, “They go through this, then they get older and this is a huge problem. They should be able to sue the physician who hurt them.”
DeSantis also signed a bill into law that he described as an extension of the Parental Rights in Education bill, which critics nationwide have consistently referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” and an attack on the LGBTQ community.
DeSantis said the new law makes sure that Florida students and teachers will never “be forced” to declare pronouns in schools or “be forced” to use pronouns “not based on biological sex” as part of an “indoctrination” effort known as transgender ideology and gender theory.
“We never did this through all of human history until like what two weeks ago, now this is something? They are having third graders declare pronouns. We are not doing the pronouns Olympics in Florida,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis also said it was “sad” that he had to also sign Senate Bill 1438: Protection of Children into law. The American Civil Liberties Union referred to it as “The Anti-Drag Show” bill. DeSantis said it was necessary because it was “inappropriate” to have minors at drag shows, which he described as “sexually explicit” and “adult entertainment.”
DeSantis also signed House Bill 1521: Facility Requirements Based on Sex and House Bill 225: Interscholastic Activities into law. He said the laws protect “public prayer” before sporting events and separate facilities based on “biological” gender to protect girls and women.
“We passed two years ago the Fairness In Women’s Sports Act to say we are going to make sure our girls and our women athletes are able to compete with integrity. And you can’t be competing on the men’s team for three years, switch to the women’s, and what, all of a sudden you are the champion? That is not right,” DeSantis said adding the new law “imposes oversight” over the Florida High School Athletic Association.
Activist Luka Hein, who has been traveling around the country to oppose trans care, was among the speakers DeSantis introduced at the school. Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr., and the Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Jason Weida were also at the school at 6101 N. Habana Ave.
“While I am not from Florida, I am someone who went through the gender-affirming care industry as a minor,” Hein said adding this resulted in “health issues,” so the limits are not “about hate.”
DeSantis also recently signed bills against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion educational programs, as part of the Republican legislature’s fight against “wokeness” in schools. For that signing event, DeSantis introduced Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist from California who has been traveling around the country to oppose “divisive” critical race theory and DEI in education.
Watch the news conference on FacebookLive
A spokesperson for DeSantis later announced that he had signed more Florida bills into law on Wednesday afternoon. Here is the list of 21 bills:
- SB 144 – Lactation Spaces
- CS/SB 196 – Guidance Services on Academic and Career Planning
- CS/SB 254 – Treatments for Sex Reassignment
- CS/SB 290 – Public School Student Progression for Students with Disabilities
- CS/SB 598 – Higher Educational Facilities Financing
- CS/SB 1272 – Educational Grants
- SB 1438 – Protection of Children
- CS/SB 7026 – Higher Education Finances
- CS/CS/HB 19 – Individual Education Plans
- CS/CS/HB 225 – Interscholastic Activities
- HB 265 – High School Equivalency Diplomas
- CS/CS/HB 301 – Emergency Response Mapping Data
- CS/HB 389 – Menstrual Hygiene Products in Public Schools
- HB 411 – Residency of Local Elected Officials
- CS/CS/HB 443 – Education
- CS/HB 551 – Required African-American Instruction
- CS/CS/HB 633 – K-12 Education
- CS/CS/HB 1069 – Education
- CS/HB 1521 – Facility Requirements based on Sex
- HB 7031 – A Review under the Open Government Sunset Review Act
- CS/CS/HB 7039 – Student Outcomes
Watch the 12 p.m. report
DeSantis signs 5 bills affecting LGBTQ in FloridaPlay Video
Naked Swimming In School Pt. 1 / Pt. 2 / Pt. 3
When I tell people about this they think I am crazy. This is how far modern religious Puritan morality has pushed into the public. We went from times when boys being nude was OK, fun, and pretty normal to now just the idea of young people seeing a nude statue like David of Michelangelo got a Florida principle fired. How ridiculous has this become. Seeing a nude human, even one in a painting or work of art, will destroy a child? Will cause the downfall of a nation? There are states trying to outlaw watching porn for adults because the religious people have to regulate all behavior, even adults private consensual behavior. It is time to stop this march of the moral vice police / the US Christian Taliban. I know I have enjoyed the times in my life I was able to swim nude, in public and private. I think growing up if more boys had been forced to be nude for more than a quick run under the locker shower, they may have been less self-conscious about themselves and their development. I know it surprised me when I went to church boarding school that the male dorm showers were just a large room with many shower heads on the wall but most of the kids except a few were OK with it. In fact me and my friends often planned our mornings to shower together. And it was not a sexual thing, it was the normal start of the day when we first got together. Hugs
A brief history of naked swimming in American schools. Sorry about the misspellings. Part 2-
• Naked Swimming In… Part 3-
• Naked Swimming In…
MAGA Attempts To Define “WOKE”
Moms For Liberty Behind Move To Fire Florida Teacher For Showing Disney Film Featuring Out Gay Character
A religious person forcing her church doctrines on what is acceptable in society on all students, teachers, and other parents. It is not enough for her child to deny gay kids exist, but to force all kids, even the gay ones, to pretend that no gay people exist. Are we going to let this keep happening? Is everyone OK with driving the country back to civil inequality and denying human rights to appease a religious view of how things should be based on a misinterpreted book written before people understood what germs were? I cannot stand this drive to return to the time when gay kids were scared and in hiding, when there were no books for them to read with gay content, when there were no positive role models, when kids were targeted for abuse if it was discovered they might not be straight. Why are we letting a group of religious conservative bigots drive us to a theocracy with a Christian Taliban in charge? Hugs
Also I want people to understand just how repressively religious these people are. Want to know where else this movie won’t be shown due to the gay story line of a few minutes of just dialog? Disney refrained from showing “Strange World” in the Middle East, China, Indonesia, Turkey, Nigeria, Uganda and other countries because of the LGBTQ storyline. Yes other religious fundamentalist countries and countries that restrict personal freedom with the government ruling what people can do in their private lives with other consenting adults. Hugs
The Tallahassee Democrat reports:
A Florida teacher is under investigation by the state Department of Education after what she believes is a targeted attack by a school board member who took issue with a Disney movie shown in her classroom. At a Hernando County School Board meeting Tuesday, fifth-grade teacher Jenna Barbee alleges school board member Shannon Rodriguez reported her to DOE for showing her students Disney’s 2022 movie “Strange World.” It’s the first Disney movie with an out, gay character.
Barbee, a teacher at Winding Waters K-8, said during public comment the Disney movie tied into her students’ Earth science lesson and did not have sexually inappropriate content. Rodriguez, who was elected to the school board last fall, was endorsed by conservative parents’ rights group Moms for Liberty. In her short tenure, she has argued there is “smut” and “porn” on schools’ library shelves and has asked for books to be removed, according to Suncoast News.
Read the full article. No paywall.
From the linked article.
Barbee, a teacher at Winding Waters K-8, said during public comment the Disney movie tied into her students’ Earth science lesson and did not have sexually inappropriate content.
“The word indoctrination is thrown around a lot right now, but it seems that those who are using it are using it as a defense tactic for their own fear-based beliefs without understanding the true meaning of the word,” Barbee said at the lectern.
Florida educators are prohibited from teaching about gender and sexual identity due to the Parental Rights in Education Act, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year. Also known as “Don’t Say Gay” by critics, teachers have expressed anxiety and confusion over the vague wording of the law for fear of losing their teaching licenses or criminal penalties if found in non-compliance.
Opponents of the law say the vague wording unfairly targets books and classroom materials with gay and transgender characters and themes.
Hernando County’s school district confirmed a fifth-grade teacher is being investigated for showing “Strange World,” and that a parent complained to the principal about the movie not being appropriate for students.
Rodriguez, who was elected to the school board last fall, was endorsed by conservative parents’ rights group Moms for Liberty. In her short tenure, she has argued there is “smut” and “porn” on schools’ library shelves and has asked for books to be removed, according to Suncoast News.
She also alleges Rodriguez called her father to tell him about the DOE complaint.
“I’m a first-year teacher. I’ve had to learn so much this year,” she told the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida. “I work with teachers who have taught for 20 years, 30 years, tell me every day it never used to be like this. Times have changed so much and they are so micromanaged, they’re not allowed to teach anymore. They’re basically a caregiver who has to teach the standards. Teachers stay for the children, but because of the laws and the fear of being let go for saying one wrong thing, they can’t connect to their students.”
At the end of the school board meeting, Rodriguez said Barbee broke school policy because she did not get the specific movie approved by school administration and said the teacher is “playing the victim.”
Rodriguez’s daughter is in Barbee’s class.
“It is not a teacher’s job to impose their beliefs upon a child: religious, sexual orientation, gender identity, any of the above. But allowing movies such as this assist teachers in opening a door, and please hear me, they assist teachers in opening the door for conversations that have no place in our classrooms,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez also said she has called DOE about other issues in the district and believes children should not be “a pawn in the crossfire” of liberal political agendas.
“As a leader in this community, I’m not going to stand by and allow this minority to infiltrate our schools,” she said.
Please note again the religious parent / school admits above that she who is a minority on the school board and among the parents and is the only one objecting to the movie, is saying “She is not going to let this minority (meaning gay people or the LGBTQ+) infiltrate our schools”. Think about what she is saying, gay kids existing is an infiltration, that gays in society / public are so offensive to her that she needs to wipe them out. In other words, genocide! Hugs
Disney refrained from showing “Strange World” in the Middle East, China, Indonesia, Turkey, Nigeria, Uganda and other countries because of the LGBTQ storyline.
“In countries where we operate, we seek to share our stories in their original form as we and the artists involved have created them. If we make edits, because of legal or other considerations, they will be as narrow as possible. We will not make an edit where we believe it would impact the storytelling. In that circumstance, we will not distribute the content in that market,” Disney says in its Human Rights Policy, which was updated in 2022.
Hanna believes the investigation began after Brandi Andrews, a board member of the Leon County chapter of Moms for Liberty, sent a letter to the governor calling on the superintendent “to be removed from his position.” The letter was stamped with “LET’S GO BRANDON,” a saying popular among conservatives who use the G-rated term in place of “(Expletive) Joe Biden.”
Andrews included an excerpt from an email, a Facebook post and an op-ed in the Democrat, all written by Hanna in August 2022, as examples of “issues we have with our local school board right here in Leon County.”
In a statement, Andrews told the Democrat her complaint is “one of many.”
“Any assertion that concerns I expressed as a parent should not be presumed as a catalyst for any investigation,” she said.
Teacher Under Investigation For Showing Disney Movie in Class
A point repeatedly made is that the parent / school board member that is on a rampage about the gay kids in the movie who did not even kiss had no problem with all the kissing done by the straight couple in the beginning of the movie. The parent / school board member is entirely about removing all representation of gays in schools at any level. She finds them abhorrent and wants them out of society. Notice this is not about trans which is where this started, it is about pushing a religious message about being gay is shameful and bad, so don’t admit to being gay. They must not be allowed to make another generation of gay kids targets of that hate. Replace gay with Jewish or black and it wouldn’t be accepted, yet. But that is where these haters are going, back to the 1950s with only Christian white straight males being in charge and gender roles strictly enforced. Hugs
Florida teacher probed after showing Disney film in class. Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur discuss on The Young Turks. Watch TYT LIVE on weekdays 6-8 pm ET. http://youtube.com/theyoungturks/live
Read more HERE: https://www.tallahassee.com/story/new… “A Florida teacher is under investigation by the state Department of Education after what she believes is a targeted attack by a school board member who took issue with a Disney movie shown in her classroom.
At a Hernando County School Board meeting Tuesday, fifth-grade teacher Jenna Barbee alleges school board member Shannon Rodriguez reported her to DOE for showing her students Disney’s 2022 movie “Strange World.”
It’s the first Disney movie with an out, gay character.”*
THE WASHINGTON POST: DeSantis signs bill to defund DEI programs at Florida’s public colleges
DeSantis signs bill to defund DEI programs at Florida’s public colleges
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law that would bar the state’s colleges and universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and limit how race can be discussed in some courses.
Read in The Washington Post: https://apple.news/AI7Q_U8vOSi-v4OINqiiWXw
Shared from Apple News
Best Wishes and Hugs,Scottie
DeSantis signs bill to defund DEI programs at Florida’s public colleges
“If you look at the way this has actually been implemented across the country, DEI is better viewed as standing for discrimination, exclusion and indoctrination,” DeSantis said at a news conference at New College of Florida in Sarasota. “And that has no place in our public institutions. This bill says the whole experiment with DEI is coming to an end in the state of Florida.”
Florida’s new law prohibits public colleges from spending state or federal money on DEI efforts. These programs often assist colleges in increasing student and faculty diversity, which can apply to race and ethnicity, as well as sexual orientation, religion and socioeconomic status.
The law also forbids public colleges from offering general education courses — those that are part of a required curriculum for all college students — that “distort significant historical events,” teach “identity politics,” or are “based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, or privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, or economic inequities.”
The Florida legislation has been met with backlash at both the state and national level, where higher education experts and First Amendment advocates say the state is trampling on academic freedom. “It’s basically state-mandated censorship, which has no place in a democracy,” Irene Mulvey, president of the American Association of University Professors, said in a recent interview with The Washington Post.
DeSantis said students who want to study “niche subjects,” such as critical race theory, ought to look elsewhere. “Florida’s getting out of that game,” he said. “If you want to do things like gender ideology, go to Berkeley. Go to some of these other places.”
The governor held the signing on the campus of New College of Florida, a public liberal arts college in Sarasota, where the governor recently appointed a crop of conservative trustees. Eliminating New College’s DEI office was among the newly constituted board’s first orders of business.
The event drew protests, whose chants could be heard inside the bill-signing ceremony.



