School District: Transgender Students Must Submit Parental Consent Form
WBBH. “It’s going to keep some of them in the closet when they really should be coming out.”Sharon McGill, a member of the district’s equity committee, said the forms were put in place to protect children and teachers from running afoul of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, which prohibits discussions of LGBTQ content in primary grades and requires that such topics be “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate” in older grades.“There are laws now in the state that teachers can’t call a student a name if it’s not their correct name,” McGill said, referring to the law.The ACLU of Florida expressed concerns about the proposed parental notification form. “With HB 1557 in effect, the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law has already begun to stigmatize LGBTQ+ people, isolate LGBTQ+ kids, and make teachers fearful of providing a welcoming and inclusive classroom,” the ACLU of Florida said in a statement.