Legal settlement clarifies the scope of Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law

The state of Florida and plaintiffs challenging a parental rights law that critics have nicknamed “Don’t Say Gay” agreed Monday to a settlement that clarifies the scope of the legislation, which would require instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten up to and including the eighth birthday. figure.

The plaintiffs, a group that included students, parents, educators and LGBTQ advocacy groups, had blamed the law, which was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022, for causing confusion and fear in public schools. The settlement says students and teachers in public schools can talk about sexual identity and gender orientation as long as it is not part of formal classroom education.

The plaintiffs claimed victory, saying it would end discrimination resulting from ambiguities in the law, officially called the Parental Rights in Education Act.

The administration of Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, also portrayed the settlement as a major victory, saying it confirmed that critics had deliberately misinterpreted the law as more broadly applicable than it actually was.

Opponents had argued that the law’s vague language made students think they couldn’t create art depicting same-sex parents, that teachers thought they couldn’t show a photo of a same-sex partner, and that schools thought they could no longer allow homosexual sex. theme books or student organizations that support gay students.

Roberta Kaplan, the plaintiffs’ lead attorney, said in a statement that the settlement “provides protection against hate and bullying.” She added: “Simply put, the state of Florida has now made it clear that LGBTQ+ children, parents and teachers in Florida can actually say they are gay.”

In its own statement, Mr. DeSantis’ office said the settlement would ensure “children will be protected from radical gender and sexual ideology in the classroom” because the law remains on the books. The administration now expects the case to be dismissed, said Ryan Newman, the governor’s general counsel.

“We fought hard to ensure that this law could not be vilified in court as it was in the public arena by the media and major corporations,” Mr. Newman said in the statement.

The settlement, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, comes nearly two years after Mr. DeSantis signed the law. The measure became central to the image he built ahead of his failed presidential campaign of a Republican who would not succumb to the political left, which he derided as “woke.”

Mr. DeSantis has long defended the law as a popular, common-sense measure. Critics, he said, “essentially endorse a gender ideology awakening in first grade.”

But the nickname stuck. And the law, along with a slew of other controversial bills signed by Mr. DeSantis in recent years, prompted organizations such as Equality Florida, one of the plaintiffs, to issue travel advisories last year, citing concerns about declining rights and freedoms in the state. .

Cecile Houry, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said she and her partner, Rabbi Amy Morrison, filed a lawsuit because they feared the law could lead to their two young children being discriminated against in public schools because they are two mothers. to have. The legislation may not explicitly say, “Don’t say gay,” says Dr. Houry, grants manager for the city of Miami Beach, but that has had its practical effect.

“If you make everything a potential problem, a possible lawsuit and a possible dismissal, that’s what happens,” she said. “People either couldn’t or felt they shouldn’t, or felt they were in danger if they spoke up, which ultimately ended up muting or silencing a lot of things.”

The law allows parents to sue school districts for alleged violations.

The settlement’s language, which the state must share with Florida’s 67 public school districts, makes clear that the law does not restrict “literary references to a gay or transgender person or to a same-sex couple” in public school classrooms. It says LGBTQ references are not prohibited in literature, classroom discussions, student academic work, or the review thereof. Such references are also not prohibited when referring to teachers’ spouses or partners, or in any other context outside of instruction.

The settlement also says that education must be neutral when it comes to issues of sexual orientation or gender identity, meaning that teachers cannot, for example, teach that heterosexuality is superior to homosexuality or bisexuality.

It also clarifies that the law does not ban classes on or interventions to stop bullying, and does not require the removal of “safe spaces” in schools for LGBTQ people or the installation of stickers identifying such places.

And it makes clear that student-run organizations such as gay-straight alliances are allowed in Florida schools, along with book fairs, musicals or plays with LGBTQ references or characters, and expressions and clothing that do not conform to the perceived gender identity of a person.

The law does not apply to school library books as long as they are not used for instruction, the settlement states.