‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill: Florida Rep. withdraws amendment opponents feared would out LGBTQ students

State Representative Joe Harding (R-Ocala) withdrew a controversial amendment he had proposed to legislation opponents have dubbed the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill Tuesday evening.

LGBTQ advocates had feared it would require schools to out students to their parents even if they suspect the student could be harmed.

The move came after Democrats held a press conference Tuesday morning warning that it would have put LGBTQ youth directly in harm’s way.

Democratic lawmakers argued the amendment would have increased suicide rates among LGBTQ youth and increased their risk of homelessness.

“This looks to be another dark day in the Florida Capitol,” said Agriculture Commissioner and Democratic Gubernatorial hopeful Nikki Fried.

Fried said the issue is personal to her because she helped her step-brother come out as gay.

“And to think, if I wasn’t there and if he was not allowed to talk to his teachers or to councilors, what could have happened to my step-brother,” said Fried.

The underlying legislation prohibits classroom discussion on LGBTQ issues in Kindergarten through 3rd grade and limits those conversations to ‘age appropriate’ content thereafter.

But Democrats and LGBTQ advocates were particularly offended by the amendment, which they argued would have required schools to disclose the sexual orientation or gender identity of students to their parents even if there was reason to believe the disclosure of that information would have resulted in abuse, neglect or abandonment.

“It gives the school no more than six weeks to disclose this information to a parent while full knowing that doing so will actually put the child in harm’s way,” said State Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando).

“Knowing the sponsor as well as I do, I don’t believe that is his intent,” said Anthony Verdugo with the Florida Christian Family Coalition.

Verdugo told us Monday he believed Democrats were exaggerating.

He said there was language in the amendment requiring the safety of the child to be taken into consideration.

“We’ve always provided exceptions to the rule,” said Verdugo.

But Democrats argued the six-week requirement for releasing the information in the amendment wasn’t enough time to ensure a student’s safety if they were outed to an unaccepting parent.

“I cannot underscore how horrifying that is going to be for LGBTQ youth. Knowing that this will be disclosed at a time certain against their will,” said Rep. Smith.

While the underlying bill has captured headlines over the past few weeks, its passage is far from guaranteed.

It stalled in the Senate after passing one committee two weeks ago but hasn’t been heard in that chamber since.

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