The Republican-dominated Florida House passed an education measure that would prohibit instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades. The proposal have dubbed the “don’t say gay" bill by critics.
Biden’s Administration issued a strong statement against this legislation pending in Florida. The Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, has slammed Florida’s pending “don’t say gay” legislation proposed by Republicans, saying it tells LGBTQ kids or those with LGBTQ parents there’s something wrong with them.
Students at high schools across Florida walked out of their classes to send a message to their communities and, they hoped, to lawmakers in Tallahassee, that it’s okay to be gay.
They organized the event in opposition to the so-called “don’t say gay” bill that’s been moving through the state Legislature. It’s scheduled to go to the Senate floor.
The teens contended the impact of the proposal would be to marginalize and isolate LGTBQ youth in the schools.
Jack Petocz, a Florida student, has been suspended from his high school after organizing a mass protest against the "don't say gay" bill
In a statement posted on social media, Petocz said he had wanted to protest the "homophobic and discriminatory legislation" at the rally, which had been approved by the school.
"Over 500 students from my school joined thousands of other concerned youth statewide to demonstrate their constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom to protest," Petocz wrote.
Florida is a very large state. We are bigger than people realize, we cover two time zones East - West, and taken an entire day to drive through from Southeast (Key West) to Northwest (Pensacola). The Northern part of Florida is like the deep South, the Southern part is generally far more diverse and liberal thinking. Gay are enshrined at the City and County level. We have over 22 million people here are really should be two states. Everyone can be assured that is you want to visit well known tourist cities like Tampa/St. Petersburg, Orlando, Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami Beach, and Key West you will have full protection and a very friendly population to welcome you. We cannot control the crazies in what we call Lower Alabama (the Florida Panhandle area) however.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Eddi, you know very well the Sunshine State.
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