Headline Roundup • July 3rd, 2022
Florida Schools Roll Out New LGBTQ+ Policies as Parental Rights in Education Bill Takes Effect
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill went into effect on Friday, permitting public schools across the state to roll out new policies for teaching LGBTQ+ topics in the classroom.
The Leon County school board on Tuesday approved a living document called the "LGBTQ Inclusive School Guide," which ruled that parents will be notified if a student who is "open about their gender identity" is in their child's physical education class or attending an overnight school trip with them. Meanwhile, Orange County Public Schools stated earlier this week that they would impose "strict restrictions on classroom behavior." Some measures include banning school staff members from wearing rainbow articles of clothing, discouraging elementary school teachers from specifically discussing same-sex relationships, requiring teachers to tell parents if a student "comes out" to them and enforcing the use of gender pronouns assigned at birth.
The Parental Rights in Education bill and the subsequent policies being passed by public schools have spawned debates about censorship and biased news coverage. Left-rated outlets were more likely to accentuate how outing LGBTQ+ students to their parents and communities can be harmful and paints children as "sex offenders that require warnings." Conversely, right-rated coverage highlighted how the Parental Rights in Education bill has enabled schools to remove "blatant LGBT propaganda" and that most voters support "anti-groomer laws." Some reports debunked the widespread story that K-3 teachers in Orange County were being barred from displaying images of same-sex marriages.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Ana Goñi-Lessan
After three hours of fiery public debate, the Leon County School Board unanimously approved its "LGBTQ Inclusive School Guide" Tuesday night.
The policy, which the board is calling a “guide” and a "living document" that can be quickly updated, comes after weeks of deliberation from the district’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee.
The document is intended to create guidelines for teachers and administrators to help students who need it and to outline state laws for employees, Assistant Superintendent Alan Cox told the Tallahassee Democrat.
The advisory committee was created to review the district's longstanding LGBTQ guide, which was...
Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP
The Parental Rights in Education law will force teachers to remove blatant LGBT propaganda from their classrooms as the law is set to take effect Friday.
According to reports, Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) announced it will “impose strict restrictions on classroom behavior” in order to abide by the Parental Rights in Education law. The law itself, which left-wing critics grossly mischaracterized, bars classroom discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity for children in kindergarten through third grade. The bill also makes it so that parents will be “notified about healthcare...
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The trouble in Orange County Public Schools began, perhaps unsurprisingly, at a seminar called “Camp Legal.”
The meeting’s stated purpose was for the district’s attorneys to walk school administrators through changes to law, a part of their annual training. But Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act, better known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, was due to take effect the following week, and neither the state nor the district had offered formal guidance on what that new law would actually mean for their classrooms — a problem, since summer school...
