JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A lawsuit involving Florida’s controversial Parental Rights in Education Law, also dubbed “Don’t Say Gay,” reached a settlement today.
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Both parties are calling this settlement a “win.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the bill’s sponsors are saying they got what they wanted from the get-go. And the critics of the bill are saying the same.
Governor DeSantis signed the parental rights in education law in early 2022 and opponents filed a lawsuit the next day. Critics claimed the language was vague and hostile towards LGBTQ+ people. And, today a settlement was reached.
Under the settlement terms, students and teachers will be able to speak freely about sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms, just as long as it’s not part of classroom instruction.
The settlement also says parental rights in education law must be applied neutrally - meaning there is no license to discriminate against or erase LGBTQ+ people in classroom discussions or in literature.
“It’s a tremendous victory for the LGBTQ community,” Equality Florida Senior Policy Advisor Carlos Guillermo Smith said.
“I think it’s a win for parents and for students,” former Jacksonville State House of Representative Jason Fischer said.
In a press release today, Florida Governor DeSantis said they won the lawsuit to keep radical gender and sexual ideology out of the classrooms of public school children in kindergarten through third grade (5- to 9-year-olds).
READ: Lawsuit settled: Sexual orientation, gender ID can be discussed in Florida schools
Fischer co-sponsored the Parental Rights in Education Act. He says today’s settlement is exactly what they wanted.
“I don’t I don’t think people should be discriminated against,” Fischer said. “And the goal of it was to make sure that kids were taught about health care subjects that were age-appropriate, and that was that that were approved by their by their parents.”
The plaintiffs reached an agreement to nullify what they say was “the most dangerous and discriminatory impacts of Florida’s controversial ‘Don’t Say Gay law.’”
Guillermo Smith says this is one step closer to seeking freedom for everyone.
“It’s not just that they can say gay or say trans and our public schools. It’s also that they can be gay, and they can be trans without fear of being erased or pushed back into the closet by this law,” Guillermo Smith said.
Under the terms of the settlement, the Florida Board of Education will send instructions to every school district saying the Florida law doesn’t prohibit discussing LGBTQ+ people.
It also says it will prevent anti-bullying rules based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
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