The state of Florida has settled a lawsuit over the so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, which Governor Ron DeSantis claims is a ‘big win’ for his conservative agenda in the Sunshine State.
The settlement clarifies what is allowed in Florida classrooms after the passage two years ago of the law banning the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity in the early grades.
In a statement, DeSantis’ office described the agreement as a “big win” with the law, formally known as the Parental Rights in Education Act, remaining intact.
“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 big corporate players,” said Ryan Newman, an attorney for the state of Florida.
‘We are victorious and Florida’s classrooms will remain a safe place under the Parental Rights in Education Act.’
The state of Florida has settled a lawsuit over the so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, which Gov. Ron DeSantis claims is a ‘big win’ for his conservative agenda in the Sunshine State
Opponents said the law had created confusion about whether teachers could identify as LGBTQ+, or whether they could even have rainbow stickers in classrooms.
Other states used the Florida law as a template to enact bans on classroom teaching about gender identity or sexual orientation. Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky and North Carolina are among the states with versions of the law.
The law has been championed by the Republican governor since before its passage in 2022 by the GOP-controlled Florida Legislature.
It banned teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, and it was expanded to all grades last year.
Republican lawmakers had argued that parents should raise these topics with children and that the law protected children from being taught inappropriate material.
The plaintiffs, Rabbi Amy Morrison and Cecile Houry, a lesbian couple from Miami-Dade County, also claimed positive results from the decision in the short term.
“It’s going to make a huge difference because the law was so vague that people stayed away from everything,” Houry said Tampa Bay Times.
“Here it really defines what is not allowed and everything else that is allowed. It is going to change the students’ experience’.
Plaintiffs Rabbi Amy Morrison and Cecile Houry, a lesbian couple from Miami-Dade County, also claimed positive results from the decision in the short term
“It’s going to make a huge difference because the law was so vague that people stayed away from everything,” Houry said
She joked that the couple’s seven-year-old daughter ‘won’t stop talking about everything’ to everyone, including having two mums, and the details of the law will keep Houry from worrying ‘ about everything that comes out of her mouth.’
Opponents of the law as originally written also said it created a chilling effect in classrooms.
Some teachers said they were unsure if they could mention or show a picture of their same-sex partner in the classroom.
In some cases, books dealing with LGBTQ+ issues were removed from classrooms and lines mentioning sexual orientation were removed from school musicals.
The Miami-Dade County School Board decided in 2022 not to pass a resolution recognizing LGBTQ History Month, even though it had done so a year earlier.
Under the settlement, the Florida Board of Education will send instructions to all school districts saying Florida law does not prohibit discussion of LGBTQ+ people or prevent anti-bullying rules based on sexual orientation and gender identity or prohibit gay-Equality Alliance groups.
Students and teachers can discuss sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms, provided it is not part of the curriculum.
The settlement also clarifies that the law is neutral — meaning that what applies to LGBTQ+ people also applies to straight people — and that it does not apply to library books that are not used for classroom instruction.
Marchers wave flags as they walk on St. Pete Pier during a protest against the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill in March 2022
Protesters of the state’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law
The law also sparked the ongoing legal battles between DeSantis and Disney over control of the Walt Disney World governing district in central Florida, after DeSantis took control of the government in what the company described as retaliation for its opposition to the legislation
The law also does not apply to books with casual references to LGBTQ+ characters or same-sex couples, “since they are no more instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity than a math problem asking students to add bushels of apples is instruction about apple farming, ‘ according to the settlement.
“What this settlement does is it restores the fundamental principal that I hope all Americans agree on, which is that every child in this country has the right to an education in a public school where they feel safe, their dignity is respected and where their families and parents are welcome,’ Robert Kaplanthe lead attorney for the plaintiffs said in an interview.
“This shouldn’t be a controversial thing.”
The law also sparked the ongoing legal battles between DeSantis and Disney over control of the ruling district for Walt Disney World in central Florida after DeSantis took control of the government in what the company described as retaliation for its opposition to the legislation.
DeSantis touted the battle with Disney during his run for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, which he finished earlier this year.
Civil rights lawyers sued Florida education officials on behalf of teachers, students and parents, arguing the law was unconstitutional, but the case was dismissed last year by a federal judge in Tallahassee, who said they lacked standing to sue.
The case was appealed to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Kaplan said they believed the appeals court would have reversed the lower court’s decision, but continuing the trial would have delayed any resolution for several years.
“The last thing we wanted for the kids in Florida was more delay,” Kaplan said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre condemned Florida’s expansion of its “don’t say gay” law and accused the state of censoring classes in a reverse form of cancellation culture
The Parental Rights in Education Act – nicknamed the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law by opponents – was signed into law last year by Gov. Ron DeSantis and sparked a firestorm across the country
President Joe Biden told Daily Show host Kal Penn from a White House interview that Florida’s laws related to LGBTQ rights are ‘sinful’ and ‘cruel’
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is spearheading a series of laws that would prevent minors from receiving transgender health care and surgeries
The White House issued a scathing condemnation of Florida’s expansion of its “don’t say gay” law, essentially accusing the state of censoring classes in a reverse form of cancellation culture.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre described the move as ‘dystopian’.
“Under threat of having their license revoked, gay teachers have been forced to take pictures of their spouses off their desks and censor their classroom materials,” she said.
‘Censoring our classes is not how public education should work in a free country.
‘Conservative politicians love to complain about the so-called “cancellation culture”, all the while threatening teachers with losing their jobs if they teach anything the MAGA extremists don’t agree with.’