Florida's Parental Rights Bill is an Anti-Grooming Bill, Not an "Anti-Gay" Bill

Photo by Gage Skidmore.

You may have heard a lot of talk from the media about Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. That’s what the opposition named it, and the mainstream media (who claims to not take sides) have had no problem running headline after headline with this language. But anyone who has read the bill knows how absolutely disingenuous such a statement is. Governor Ron DeSantis’s spokesperson sparked outrage when she called it an “anti-grooming bill,” but that’s a much more accurate description.

The bill is called “Parental Rights in Education.” In short, it prohibits schools from conspiring against parents who plan to hide important information about their children, what they’re learning, and their mental state. That is, truthfully, probably why so many activists are livid about this bill.

The other controversial portion is that it bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity for kindergarten through grade three, or if it’s presented in an inappropriate way for their age group.

It doesn’t ban the word “gay.” It doesn’t stop trans children from existing. It doesn’t say a child is forbidden from spouting out their love for their two dads.

Unless you want 5-8-year-olds to be taught gender identity in secret—by activists who can’t even successfully define what a man or a woman is—there aren’t great reasons to oppose this bill. Obviously, the blatant mischaracterization is proof of that.

Some critics have claimed this bill is simply not warranted. That’s also ridiculous.

In California, two teachers were busted for recruiting children into LGBT clubs. They recruited by eavesdropping on their conversations in the hall and even spying on their web browsers. They conspired ways to hide the club membership from parents. They convinced one female student she was trans and changed her records without parental consent. According to her parents, their daughter became suicidal. These teachers instructed others how to do the same and succeed in conservative areas.

THREAD: 2 teachers at a California school reportedly coached a 12 year old into a trans identity behind her parents back. The school also changed her name and pronouns without informing the parents.

This was the mom’s speech tonight: pic.twitter.com/xNjChjeKFK

— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) December 16, 2021

There have also been viral videos on Tiktok of teachers talking about special closets that children can enter if they have to change their clothes at school. Gender identity aside, the audacity of a teacher breeding rebellion into their students against their parents is astounding.

Last year in Florida, a school board member accompanied elementary students to a gay bar for a field trip. Parents in Leon County, Florida are suing the school district for meeting with a 13-year-old behind their parents’ back, to affirm her gender identity. In Clay County, a daughter tried to kill herself after having secret meetings with her school counselors over her gender identity.

Horrifying story. Parents allege Florida school leaders held secret meetings with their child regarding her gender identity. They were only informed months later when she attempted suicide after a gender identity crisis pic.twitter.com/hicldewHNx

— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) January 26, 2022

Abigail Martinez of California had a daughter who claimed to feel like a boy, and her school was in on affirming her gender identity. A trans activist told her daughter, Jaely, that if she was in the custody of social services, they would make sure she got hormones and surgery. Abigail lost custody of her daughter and the judge denied making sure Jaely had an evaluation before undergoing changes to her body. Eventually, Abigail received word that her daughter stepped in front of a train, ending her life.

There are more stories. Abigail Shrier, who wrote Irreversible Damage, is a pariah to many because she shed light on the trans movement, and the social contagion surrounding it.

Parents have a responsibility to protect their children, and teachers are entrusted to teach the approved curricula. Most parents assume math, reading, science, and social studies are presented in an age-appropriate way. They do not expect teachers to overstep their boundaries and sow seeds of division between families.

Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida legislators passing this bill are serving their constituents by protecting children. Every state should adopt legislation like this. And every politician, celebrity, and corporation who opposes it should fear the wrath of parents if they don’t.

But activists, like journalists from the AP and all the way up to President Joe Biden, would rather virtue signal to a radical base than protect our future generation from harm.