People attend the Sunday Pride Parade & Festival in Miami Beach on September 19. The Florida House on Thursday passed a bill restricting public schools discussion of gender and sexual orientation. Photo by Cristobal Herrera-Ulashkevich/ EPA-EFE
Feb. 24 (UPI) -- The Florida House on Thursday passed a bill to regulate public school teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity. Critics call it the "don't say gay" bill.
The bill now on its way to the Florida Senate bans gender and sexual orientation discussions in grades K-3 and restricts public school discussions on these topics to "age appropriate" grades.
The bill also prohibits schools from withholding information from parents bout a student's "mental, emotional or physical health."
State Rep. Joe Harding sponsored the bill. It passed with Republican support on a 69-47 vote.
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Harding said on the House floor that the bill is about "empowering parents."
Critics of the bill say it pits parental rights against the rights of LGBTQ students.
"This bill goes way beyond the text on its page," Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat who is gay, said on the Florida House floor. "It sends a terrible message to our youth that there is something so wrong, so inappropriate, so dangerous about this topic that we have to censor it from classroom instruction."
The Florida House on Thursday also passed HB 7 restricting education about race. Republicans called that bill "Individual Freedom."
The proposals in Florida are the latest in a string of controversial action in conservative states.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday ordered state agencies to investigate gender-affirming care for transgender children as "child abuse."
The White House said called the directive dangerous and said families should be able to seek "the appropriate healthcare for their transgender children from doctors without the threat of prosecution."
Harding said on the House floor that the bill is about "empowering parents."
Critics of the bill say it pits parental rights against the rights of LGBTQ students.
"This bill goes way beyond the text on its page," Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat who is gay, said on the Florida House floor. "It sends a terrible message to our youth that there is something so wrong, so inappropriate, so dangerous about this topic that we have to censor it from classroom instruction."
The Florida House on Thursday also passed HB 7 restricting education about race. Republicans called that bill "Individual Freedom."
The proposals in Florida are the latest in a string of controversial action in conservative states.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday ordered state agencies to investigate gender-affirming care for transgender children as "child abuse."
The White House said called the directive dangerous and said families should be able to seek "the appropriate healthcare for their transgender children from doctors without the threat of prosecution."
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