Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Law Weakened by Settlement Last Week

Go ahead and say Gay!

As reported over at Truthout.org last week, Florida's noxious Parents' Rights in Education Act (PREA) more widely known as the "Don't Say Gay" law was struck a blow in a settlement reached between Florida’s education department and families of LGBTQ+ youth who sued the state on behalf of their children. This is a much-heralded event in what has been a two-year nightmare for LGBTQ+ teachers, youth, their friends, and allies.

A settlement clarifying a bill, dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by critics, has been reached in Florida. The change will allow sexual orientation and gender identity to be discussed in classrooms. pic.twitter.com/Lt0BJFdB6I

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) March 16, 2024

Jen Cousins, an Orlando mother of four, expressed the relief of many. “If you’d have asked me last week if this would be happening, I would have laughed. We’re just so used to taking loss after loss after loss for the last few years,” she said. “They had to admit they were wrong. So, that’s a great feeling.”

Letters will be going out to school districts as part of the agreement, with more clear language about the PREA, what it can and cannot forbid in speech and action. It's the ambiguity, the lack of clarity, that for many was at the crux of their fear and anxiety over the law. It was interpreted and in many cases enacted by school districts as a blanket ban on any speech or outward representation of LGBTQ+ lives and stories. Identifying pins, labels, and books were removed from sight, creating a sense of gay lockdown.

It was also at the epicenter of Gov. Ron DeSantis's culture wars, one which he believed would help him ride his way to the GOP nomination for the upcoming presidential election. His presidential aspirations flamed out last January, followed by the recent failure of many of the state's proposed anti-LGBTQ+ bills. But in true DeSantis fashion, he is touting the latest news as worthy of celebration, calling it positive proof that the law, which barred classroom discussion of LGBTQ+ and gender topics from K-3, then later to 12th grade, was never meant to affect people's representation outside of classroom instruction.

Ron DeSantis' anti-LGBTQ agenda is falling apart. A settlement reached this week between Florida education officials and civil rights attorneys dismantled key parts of the GOP culture warrior's "Don't Say Gay" bill. pic.twitter.com/l4Nfi2j97r

— AYMAN (@AymanMSNBC) March 17, 2024

Indiscriminate and erratic implementation of the law caused teachers and families alike to erase any representations of themselves, or to express allyship within their classrooms. Now, it's reported that the barring of representations in clothing, stickers, pins, and speech, along with the removal of books and materials from shelves, are no longer permissible. Though the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity, both LGBTQ+ and cis/het, are still forbidden, casual reference and personal expressions of self and allyship are not. As Truthout also reported, "(The agreement) clarified that the law does not prohibit the formation of Gay-Straight Alliances in schools, or prevent intervention against bullying on the basis of LGBTQ+ identities."

Unfortunately, trans and gender non-binary teachers and students are still at risk. They cannot use their chosen personal pronouns, and teachers are forbidden to use the bathrooms of their gender identity under a separate state law that applies to all government employees in any state-owned building. As Simone Chriss, an attorney with the Southern Legal Counsel in Florida stated, "It doesn’t exactly cure the issue, which is many districts, regardless of what the state says, are going to continue operating from a place of fear and likely erring on the side of caution because this doesn’t change the fact that any parent at any time can bring a lawsuit.” Caitlin, the mother of a trans child who is only going by her first name, summed up the mixed feelings about the settlement: “Although I am so grateful for this outcome … many folks have been emboldened to be openly transphobic, and that’s something that will take decades to heal, if not longer,” she said.

But Anita Hatcher, a seventh-grade English language arts teacher feels that this settlement, the clarity it brings, and the failure of many other bills will have a ripple effect for other bills it engendered across the country. “Other states will definitely be looking at this decision.”

A graph of some of the failed FL bills, taken from ACLU.

There are still fights ahead, but as Caitlin told Truthout, "I finally have hope that I frankly didn’t last year.” This sentiment was echoed by Cousins when she exclaimed “The tide is turning. People are sick of these manufactured culture wars.”

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