Democratic activists and liberal media (but I repeat myself) supposedly got their big win over Florida by confirming that their “don’t say gay” framing of parental rights was a fraud.
Florida reached a settlement in the activist-driven federal lawsuit against its Parental Rights in Education Act that those activists and their media allies labeled the “Don’t Say Gay” law. Here’s how the Associated Press described it: “The settlement clarifies what is allowed in Florida classrooms following passage two years ago of the law prohibiting instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades. Opponents said the law had created confusion about whether teachers could identity themselves as LGBTQ+ or if they even could have rainbow stickers in classrooms.”
In other words, the settlement will have Florida “clarify” that the law means exactly what it says it means and that it doesn’t mean any of the dumb interpretations that activists (whether through willful lying or through their own ignorance and inability to read) imposed on it. As the text of the law said (emphasis added), “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.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
It never meant that teachers couldn’t identify themselves or that classes couldn’t discuss people who happened to be gay or any other activist-fabricated interpretation that was offered. Nothing has changed. The law is going to stand as written and mean exactly what it says it means. Activists are claiming victory here for some reason, and liberal media are indulging them, but the law remains the same as it has been.
If anything, activists and “journalists” should be apologizing because this settlement confirms that their “don’t say gay” framing of the law was a sham. Again, the people who pushed it were either incapable of reading, were too lazy to read the text of the law, or made up restrictions that are not in the law in order to rile up members of the first two groups. It was a partisan pressure campaign from the beginning, and the settlement restating that the law does what it says proves exactly that.