‘Assault on Freedom’: Critics Blast DeSantis for Expanding ‘Don’t Say Gay’ to All Grades After Vowing It Would Be Limited
thenewcivilrightsmovement.comGovernor Ron DeSantis, though his Department of Education and its chair, Manny Diaz, has officially expanded his “Don’t Say Gay” law to include all public school grades, from kindergarten through 12th.
DeSantis had promoted the highly-controversial and possibly unconstitutional law originally as applying only to children through third grade.“DeSantis has not commented on the proposal.
He previously directed questions to Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr., who said it was meant to clarify confusion around the existing law and reinforce that teachers should not deviate from existing curriculums,” according to the Associated Press, a claim that is in direct conflict with how DeSantis and Republicans in Florida and across the country framed the law last year.“The board voted Wednesday to adopt a new rule that says Florida teachers in grades 4 through 12 ‘shall not intentionally provide classroom instruction … on sexual orientation or gender identity’ unless this instruction is required by state academic standards — it is not — or the lessons form ‘part of a reproductive health course’ from which a student’s parent can opt out their child,” The Washington Post reports.READ MORE: Everything Ron DeSantis Did Yesterday Is Wrong – And Many People Are NoticingUnlike the original law, DeSantis has made this an administrative change, requiring no vote from the people’s elected representatives.“Supporters of the rules,” ABC News adds, “argue that ‘there is no reason for instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity to be part of K-12 public education.
Full stop,’ according to a spokesperson for DeSantis, who has backed restrictions on education about race, gender identity and sexual orientation and more in his war on.
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