Skip to content Skip to search

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/
Sign up for our newsletter

Menu

  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Search
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships
    • From the Collection

      Changing Child Care

      Illustration of a woman feeding a baby a bottle
      • The full PUMP Act is now in effect. Here’s what it does for lactating parents.

        Chabeli Carrazana · April 28
      • 1 in 4 parents report being fired for work interruptions due to child care breakdowns

        Chabeli Carrazana · February 2
      • Washington, D.C., offers financial relief to local child care workers

        Orion Rummler · September 20
    • From the Collection

      Next-Gen GOP

      Illustration of a woman riding an elephant
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • A banner year for Republican women

        Amanda Becker · November 11
      • Republican women could double representation in the U.S. House

        Amanda Becker · November 4
    • From the Collection

      On The Rise

      Illustration of three women marching
      • Can Cheri Beasley build a winning coalition in North Carolina?

        Candice Norwood · October 11
      • Los Angeles has never elected a woman mayor. Karen Bass hopes to change that.

        Nadra Nittle · September 8
      • Judge J. Michelle Childs is confirmed to D.C. appeals court

        Candice Norwood · July 20
    • From the Collection

      Pandemic Within a Pandemic

      Illustration of four people marching for Black Lives Matter with coronavirus as the backdrop
      • Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won’t.

        Orion Rummler · November 23
      • Why are more men dying from COVID? It’s a complicated story of nature vs. nurture, researchers say

        Mariel Padilla · September 22
      • Few incarcerated women were released during COVID. The ones who remain have struggled.

        Candice Norwood · August 17
    • From the Collection

      Portraits of a Pandemic

      Illustration of a woman wearing a mask and holding up the coronavirus
      • For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making

        Shefali Luthra · October 8
      • A new database tracks COVID-19’s effects on sex and gender

        Shefali Luthra · September 15
      • Pregnant in a pandemic: The 'perfect storm for a crisis'

        Shefali Luthra · August 25
    • From the Collection

      The 19th Explains

      People walking from many articles to one article where they can get the context they need on an issue.
      • The 19th Explains: How to ease the ‘loneliness epidemic’ and social isolation among older adults

        Sara Luterman · April 24
      • The 19th Explains: Who will be most impacted by Medicaid changes — and when

        Rebekah Barber · March 28
      • The 19th Explains: What we know about Brittney Griner’s case and what it took to get her home

        Candice Norwood, Katherine Gilyard · December 8
    • From the Collection

      The Electability Myth

      Illustration of three women speaking at podiums
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • Stepping in after tragedy: How political wives became widow lawmakers

        Mariel Padilla · May 24
      • Do term limits help women candidates? New York could be a new testing ground

        Barbara Rodriguez · January 11
    • From the Collection

      The Impact of Aging

      A number of older people walking down a path of information.
      • From ballroom dancing to bloodshed, the older AAPI community grapples with gun control

        Nadra Nittle, Mariel Padilla · January 27
      • 'I'm planning on working until the day I die': Older women voters are worried about the future

        Mariel Padilla · June 3
      • Climate change is forcing care workers to act as first responders

        Jessica Kutz · May 31
    • From the Collection

      Voting Rights

      A series of hands reaching for ballots.
      • Ranked-choice voting is gaining momentum. So are efforts to stop it.

        Barbara Rodriguez · April 24
      • Connecticut voters approved early voting. Here’s how their new secretary of state wants to make it happen.

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 13
      • Women lawmakers in Minnesota are in the vanguard of the democracy movement

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 3

    View all collections

  • Explore by Topic

    • 19th Polling
    • Abortion
    • Business & Economy
    • Caregiving
    • Coronavirus
    • Education
    • Election 2020
    • Election 2022
    • Election 2024
    • Environment & Climate
    • Health
    • Immigration
    • Inside The 19th
    • Justice
    • LGBTQ+
    • Military
    • Politics
    • Press Release
    • Race
    • Sports
    • Technology

    View All Topics

Home
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Search
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Become a member

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

LGBTQ+ rights supporters protest against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis outside a campaign event.
LGBTQ+ rights supporters protest against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis outside a campaign event in November 2022 in Fort Myers, Florida. (GIORGIO VIERA/AFP/Getty Images)

LGBTQ+

Florida expands classroom ‘Don’t Say Gay’ restrictions up to 12th grade

Florida’s Department of Education voted to expand the state’s law banning classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity through 12th grade, as more anti-LGBTQ+ bills advance through the statehouse.

Orion Rummler

LGBTQ+ Reporter

Orion Rummler headshot

Published

2023-04-19 15:12
3:12
April 19, 2023
pm

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

We’re answering the “how” and “why” of LGBTQ+ and education news. Sign up for our daily newsletter.

Florida’s Department of Education voted Wednesday to expand the state’s law banning classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity, extending the restrictions through 12th grade. The expansion makes real a warning that LGBTQ+ advocates had repeated since the inception of the original law — that older students could be affected too. 

Shari Gawanter, a first grade teacher in Leon County, Florida, has taught for over two decades. She wants LGBTQ+ students to know that she doesn’t plan to go anywhere. 

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

“I will be there for you, no matter what,” she said at a news conference held by the Human Rights Campaign and Equality Florida on Wednesday. For her and her colleagues, teaching in Florida means experiencing a new level of fear: about what books she reads, what conversations she has, what visitors are in her classroom and how she presents. Many of her colleagues feel like they are going to have to hide who they really are, she said. 

“That will be detrimental to our children and the education of our children,” Gawanter said. “We are vilifying the LGBTQ+ community. We are vilifying teachers.” 

  • Read Next:
    Demonstrators wave pride flags as they march across a bridge in protest of Florida's
  • Read Next: More than half of queer Florida parents have considered fleeing the state in the wake of ‘Don’t Say Gay,’ study finds

The amendment that the board approved Wednesday prohibits instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity for grades four through 12 unless such instruction is “expressly required by state academic standards.” If such instruction is part of a reproductive health course or health lesson that a student’s parent has consented to, then it is allowed. The expansion should take effect after a procedural period that lasts roughly a month, the AP reports, citing an education department spokesperson. 

The original Parental Rights in Education Act, nicknamed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, went into effect in July and banned such instruction from kindergarten to third grade. Equality Florida and the National Center for Lesbian Rights led a legal challenge against the law — a challenge that was dismissed, not for the first time, by a federal judge in February. 

The number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills seen in Florida this year— 22 — is the most ever seen in the state in a single legislative session, as far as Equality Florida has been tracking it, according to Joe Saunders, senior political director at the organization. Eighteen of those bills are currently advancing, he said Wednesday. 

This week, multiple anti-LGBTQ+ bills advanced through Florida’s statehouse,  including one that restricts curriculums in colleges and universities.  

  • More Florida coverage
    Signs that read
  • Florida bill would bring bans on gender studies and critical race theory to colleges and universities
  • Florida Democrats can’t stop the GOP right now. But Nikki Fried says they’re willing to fight.
  • Florida’s new restrictions will chip away at the little abortion access left in the South

That bill, to prohibit students at the state’s public colleges and universities from majoring or minoring in academic disciplines such as critical race and gender theory, queer theory, ethnic studies, and intersectionality, was considered in a state House education and employment committee hearing Wednesday. 

Another proposed piece of legislation, which advocacy groups describe as an “anti-drag bill,” was read in the state House for a second time this week. The bill would allow fines in the thousands of dollars and the revocation of licenses from establishments that allow children to view “adult” live performances — those deemed sexual or offensive. That bill may end local LGBTQ+ Pride events, the organizer of Miami Beach Pride told a local news outlet earlier this month. 

A bill to ban gender-affirming care for minors in the state advanced through the statehouse this week. That bill affects adults by preventing transgender people from updating their birth certificates, and it also appears to revoke health insurance coverage for gender-affirming care across the board. For trans youth who have not yet begun treatment, gender-affirming care is already blocked in Florida; the ban faces an ongoing lawsuit.

A bathroom ban passed through a final vote in Florida’s House on Wednesday. The bill requires transgender adults to use bathrooms and changing rooms according to their sex assigned at birth across various public facilities — and allows the attorney general to fine facilities up to $10,000 for not complying. 

Last week, Equality Florida warned families and students, and anyone else traveling through Florida, that the state “may not be a safe place to visit or take up residence,” due to the passage of anti-LGBTQ laws and other efforts. Such policies have already led parents in Florida to consider moving, the advocacy group said — pointing to a study that found half of queer Florida parents have considered fleeing the state in the wake of the “Don’t Say Gay” law. 

Andrea Montanez, a trans woman and lead LGBTQ immigration organizer with Hope Community Center in Florida, said that Wednesday was “a nightmare” at the capitol in Tallahassee. It feels like transgender people are “public enemy number one” in Florida, she said — and it doesn’t feel safe in the state right now.

When she talks to friends outside of the trans community, Montanez said she tells them: “I don’t need your love right now, I need you to speak up for us.”

Samira Burnside, a 16-year-old transgender student activist from Tampa, said at Wednesday’s news conference that the local trans community has banded together and will continue to do so. 

“This is a scary time, but it isn’t a lonesome time,” she said. 

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Become a member

Up Next

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey speaks with reporters outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.

LGBTQ+

Missouri court delays restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors and adults

The emergency rule from the state attorney general has been halted until May 1, as a Missouri judge  considers a lawsuit seeking a longer temporary restraining order.

Read the Story

The 19th
The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our stories are free to republish in accordance with these guidelines.

  • Donate
  • Newsletter
  • Events
  • Search
  • Jobs
  • Fellowships
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Community Guidelines
  • Membership
  • Membership FAQ
  • Major Gifts
  • Sponsorship
  • Privacy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram