We Conservatives Won A Big Victory In Florida Wednesday
Thanks to all those who responded to our call to action, and the efforts of such organizations as the Florida Citizens Alliance and Moms for Liberty, the Florida Board of Education, at the
request of Gov. Ron DeSantis, on Wednesday approved a ban on classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in all grades, expanding the law Leftwing radical homosexual and transgender ideologues call the “Don't Say Gay” bill.
According to reporting by the Associated Press the rule change – which does not require legislative approval – will take effect in about a month. The new rule bans lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity from grades 4-12, unless required by existing state standards or as part of reproductive health instruction that students can choose not to take. Florida currently bans such lessons in kindergarten through third grade.
The prohibition, which began last year with the law banning sexual orientation and gender identity lessons in kindergarten through third grade, has drawn praise from parents’ rights activists and religious leaders even as President Joe Biden called it “hateful.”
Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr., a DeSantis appointee, rejected the White House criticism, “We’re not removing anything here,” Diaz Jr. said on Wednesday. “All we are doing is we are setting the expectations so our teachers are clear: that they are to teach to the standards.”
“It is wrong for a teacher to tell a student that they may have been born in the wrong body or that their gender is a choice,’ Governor DeSantis said while giving remarks in Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday morning. “So, we don’t let that happen in Florida,” DeSantis continued.
POLITICO reported, these provisions are baked into Florida’s professional code of conduct for educators that are meant to hold teachers accountable. As such, the state education commissioner can pursue disciplinary action against the license of any teacher who violates that code, including the expansions approved Wednesday. A teacher who violates the rule could have their educator’s certificate revoked or suspended.
While the Leftwing teachers’ unions, homosexual and transgender activists and their allies in the media have tried to make this into a DeSantis vs. Disney controversy these rules changes were accomplished through the bottom up demands of parents concerned that out-of-control school personnel were indoctrinating their children in these destructive ideas.
“The curriculum and the standards taught in an academic classroom have nothing to do with the school’s compassion and being able to provide services to individual students,” Education Commissioner Manny Diaz said at the meeting in Tallahassee. “They’re not being shunned, none of this is being addressed here.”
“We shouldn’t be asking our teachers to be teaching mental health or providing that,” Diaz added. “They should be more of a conduit to pass that on [to parents].”
As our friends at Florida’s Voice reported, dozens of people spoke in support of the rule, saying these discussions should be left to parents at the home.
“We believe that the focus in education should always be teaching the basics of math, science, history, etc. in the classroom, especially when it comes to issues such as sexual orientation and gender identity,” said Ryan Kennedy with Florida Citizens’ Alliance.
“These decisions should be left at home to the parents to decide when and if their child should be exposed to this material.”
Conservative groups such as the Christian Family Coalition, Florida Citizens Alliance and Moms for Liberty provided compelling testimony supporting the new rule. Members of Moms for Liberty contended the policy would strengthen relationships between parents and their children, and that it’s necessary to ensure teachers are leading lessons approved by the state.
“The crowding out of academic learning, which is already deficient, by inappropriate sexual classroom content should be considered educational malpractice,” Yvette Benarroch, who leads the Collier County chapter of Moms for Liberty, told the board.
Thank you conservatives and CHQ readers for supporting Florida’s new “Let kids be kids” education rule.
Florida Citizens Alliance
Moms for Liberty
Florida Board of Education
Gov. Ron DeSantis
Sexual orientation
Don't Say Gay
transgenderism
Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr.
Let kids be kids education rule