Don’t say “Gay”? Or “Hey, Teacher (& Disney), Leave Them Kids Alone!”
Posted by Ed Folsom, April 1, 2022.
In light of the concerted media effort to distort Florida’s HN 1557 (all too cutely derided by Disney, et. al. as the “Don’t say Gay” bill), it’s worth taking a look at the language of the bill itself, especially the most controversial part. News reports have repeatedly referenced the bill’s 7-page length (perhaps to discourage people from reading it), but nobody should take that to indicate that the bill is particularly long or complicated. The first 2 ½ pages are just explanatory preamble. The bill’s actual text takes up about 4 pages, double-spaced. The part that has sparked the most derision states exactly the following:
“3. 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.”
The bill might just as accurately be called the “Don’t say ‘straight’ bill” or the “Don’t say ‘cisgender’ bill” as the “Don’t say ‘gay’ bill.” It very simply states there is to be no: (1) “classroom instruction;” (2) by school personnel or anyone else; (3) on “sexual orientation or gender identity’” (4) in grades kindergarten through 3; or (5) in any other grade in a manner that’s deemed inappropriate for the age or developmental level of the student according to state standards.
There are many topics that most parents think are inappropriate for their kids to receive instruction on in school. K-3 instruction on “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” are probably right near the top, next to sexual activity itself. If school officials don’t reliably have the sense to steer clear of the stuff, it should be no surprise when a legislature steps in to dictate, where common sense has been destroyed.
The rest of the bill is aimed at instituting policies and procedures to ensure that parents are notified of changes regarding their children’s “mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being” and that encourage students to discuss such matters with their parents. Why would that be necessary?
Does anyone recall what happened at the King Middle School, in Portland, Maine, in 2007? School nurse, Amanda Rowe, wife of Maine’s then-attorney general, Steven Rowe, instituted a policy of providing birth control to middle schoolers, age 11 and up, through the middle school health clinic. The school explicitly refused to notify the kids’ parents, of course, under the theory that once a parent consented to a child being treated at the clinic, that was sufficient to allow contraception to be dispensed to 11-year-olds without further parental notice or consent.
It was an interesting policy, especially given that Maine law defines any act of genital-to-genital or oral-genital contact involving a person under age 14 to constitute the Class A crime of gross sexual assault. This law applies regardless of the age of the other person involved. But despite this, King Middle School and Amanda Rowe facilitated the ongoing commission of these Class A crimes, with determination, by providing the means to the victim (who might have been a perpetrator, too, if her partner was also under age 14) to carry on without creating a pregnancy. And Rowe and King Middle were equally determined not to notify the parents that the sexual/criminal activity was afoot.
This stuff happens. The Florida bill seeks to ensure it doesn’t happen there.
Some crazy and dangerous people are calling it crazy and dangerous stuff.
What follows is the text of the Florida bill, leaving off the part that deals with procedures for resolving disputes. The LD itself is posted here.
“(c)1. In accordance with the rights of parents enumerated in ss. 1002.20 and 1014.04, adopt procedures for notifying a student’s parent if there is a change in the student’s services or monitoring related to the student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being and the school’s ability to provide a safe and supportive learning environment for the student. The procedures must reinforce the fundamental right of parents to make decisions regarding the upbringing and control of their children by requiring school district personnel to encourage a student to discuss issues relating to his or her well-being with his or her parent or to facilitate discussion of the issue with the parent. The procedures may not prohibit parents from accessing any of their student’s education and health records created, maintained, or used by the school district, as required by s. 1002.22(2).
- A school district may not adopt procedures or student support forms that prohibit school district personnel from notifying a parent about his or her student’s mental, emotional or physical health or well-being, or a change in related services or monitoring, or that encourage or have the effect of encouraging a student to withhold from a parent such information. School district personnel may not discourage or prohibit parental notification of and involvement in critical decisions affecting a student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being. This subparagraph does not prohibit a school district from adopting procedures that permit school personnel to withhold such information from a parent if a reasonably prudent person would believe that disclosure would result in abuse, abandonment, or neglect, as those terms are defined in s. 39.01.96
- 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.
- Student support services training developed or provided by a school district to school district personnel must adhere to student services guidelines, standards, and frameworks established by the Department of Education.
- At the beginning of the school year, each school district shall notify parents of each healthcare service offered at their student’s school and the option to withhold consent or decline any specific service. Parental consent to a health care service does not waive the parent’s right to access his or her student’s educational or health records or to be notified about a change in his or her student’s services or monitoring as provided by this paragraph.
- Before administering a student well-being questionnaire or health screening form to a student in kindergarten through grade 3, the school district must provide the questionnaire or health screening form to the parent and obtain the permission of the parent.
- Each school district shall adopt procedures for a parent to notify the principal, or his or her designee, regarding concerns under this paragraph at his or her student’s school and the process for resolving those concerns within 7 calendar days after notification by the parent.
- At a minimum, the procedures must require that within 30 days after notification by the parent that the concern remains unresolved, the school district must either resolve the concern or provide a statement of the reasons for not resolving the concern.”
The final portion of the bill deals with the creation of rules and procedures and time frames for carrying out the act’s provisions and resolving disputes. The bill takes effect on July 1, 2022. That’s it.
