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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis chose Christian schools as the setting to sign a bill Friday that would ban gender-affirming treatment for minors, limit the use of pronouns in schools and force people to use gender-appropriate bathrooms in some cases.
Wednesday also marks the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, an annual event held on May 17 meant to honor the fight for equality and efforts to end hate and discrimination against LGBTQ people around the world.
DeSantis has made anti-LGBTQ legislation a big part of her agenda as she is expected to announce her presidential candidacy in the coming days. He has leaned heavily towards cultural divides in race, sexual orientation and gender when he moves to win the support of conservative voters who decided the Republican primary election.
He signed the bill in front of a cheering crowd at Cambridge Christian School in Tampa.
The ceremony was like a campaign, unlike when he personally signed measures on abortion and gun rights.
“It’s so sad that we’re even having some of these discussions,” DeSantis told the crowd as he stood behind a lectern with a sign that read “Let Kids Be Kids.”
“We’ve never done this in all of human history until like, what, two weeks ago? Now this is something? They have a third grader announcing pronouns? We’re not doing the pronoun Olympics in Florida,” DeSantis said to applause.
Republican Rep. Randy Fine, who sponsored the ban on gender-affirming care for minors, invoked religion to defend the state’s action.
“God doesn’t make mistakes with our children,” he said.
Democrats opposed the bill, and LGBTQ rallies were held at the Capitol during the session that ended two weeks ago, but Republicans have supermajorities in both chambers and the bill moved easily through the legislative process.
LISTENING | Some travelers reconsider visiting Florida over anti-LGBTQ politics:
Jlan Utama NS7:12 a.mWhy some LGBTQ travelers might think about traveling to Florida
Earlier this month, Equality Florida released a travel advisory warning of the risks to the health, safety, and freedom of LGBTQ people who want to travel to Florida because of a law it says is harmful to the queer community. Alex Guye spoke to Adam Taylor, a travel consultant and agency owner in Dartmouth, about what he’s hearing from the queer community.
Florida school district sued over book censorship
Meanwhile, the writing group PEN America and publisher Penguin Random House sued a Florida school district on Wednesday for removing a book about race and LGBTQ identity.
A federal lawsuit alleges the Escambia County School District and school board violated the First Amendment by removing 10 books from library shelves.
The case does not name DeSantis as a defendant, although the Republican governor has also championed policies that allow censorship and challenge books based on what is appropriate for children in schools, causing a national uproar.
“Books have the capacity to change lives for the better, and students especially deserve fair access to diverse perspectives. Censorship, in the form of book bans like the one implemented by Escambia County, is a direct threat to democracy and our Constitution. rights,” Nihar Malaviya, CEO of Penguin Random House, said in a statement.
Escambia County school officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit says the removals were prompted by the objections of one language arts teacher in the district, and that in each case the school board voted to remove the books over recommendations from district review committees deemed educationally appropriate.
The teacher’s official objection to the book appears to be from materials compiled by a website that reports on books deemed inappropriate for children, according to the lawsuit. In one example cited in the lawsuit, the teacher admitted he had never heard of the book The Benefits of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky but filed an objection form for the novel containing certain quotations and phrases from the book ban website.
Among the other deleted books are Blue Eyes by Toni Morrison, The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed and Lucky by Alice Sebold.
The lawsuit says more than 150 additional books are under review by the school board.
“In Escambia County, the state censors spirited books from the shelves in a deliberate attempt to suppress various voices. In a nation built on free speech, this cannot stand,” said Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America.
“The law requires the Escambia County School District to place removed or restricted books on library shelves wherever possible.”
WATCH | US divided over laws affecting transgender youth:
March 28, 2023 | Hundreds of bills targeting transgender people and their rights have been introduced in the United States. Andrew Chang is joined by activists who track everything. Then, a trans mother and son explain why they won’t leave their country.
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