Conversations about us aren’t something dangerous that should be banned.”Īaron DiPietro, legislative director for the conservative Florida Family Policy Council, spoke in support of the measure, telling the committee: “These are issues that parents need to be involved in.” But what we do know is that LGBTQ people are a normal, healthy part of our society,” Jon Harris Maurer, public policy director of Equality Florida, told lawmakers at the hearing. “There’s a lack of clarity clearly on what this bill is seeking to do. Harding said it would apply to students in kindergarten through fifth grade. They also said the proposal does not specify what grades would be affected. We’re talking about a school district initiating something through a standard procedure or policy that they’re doing,” he said.Ĭritics said Harding’s statements contradicted the broad text of his bill, particularly in terms of having lessons on LGBTQ history, which they argued would be barred from the curriculum. “This doesn’t preclude discussion and conversation that’s going to happen. He added that schools could still have lessons on Pride Month and events such as the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre in which a gunman killed 49 people in Orlando.
He maintained that it would not silence spontaneous discussions but instead stop a district from integrating such topics into the curriculum.
Harding repeatedly said his bill is meant to give parents more control over what their children learn. Joe Harding with questions about whether kids would be able to talk freely about LGBTQ people or history. In a committee hearing last week, Democrats peppered bill sponsor Rep. As written, the proposal states that school districts “may not encourage classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.” A parent could sue a district for violations.