Gov. DeSantis' Most Dangerous Gayme

Bad enough DeSantis bullied teens into not wearing masks because he was afraid the optics would upset the anti-vaxxer, anti-mask, pro-Covid Trumplicans he’s trying to pull into his corner for a 2024 presidential run. Now he’s putting more than 100,000 Floridians under 18 years of age in jeopardy. That’s an estimate of the number of LGBTQ+ youths who live in Florida, attending school, playing sports, working part time, worrying about college, figuring out life in the Sunshine state.

The infamous and euphemistically named Parental Rights in Education Act  should have been called “Let’s Make Life Harder and Riskier for Our Young Gay People”. These kids—10% of any population fit into the LGBTQ umbrella, closeted or not—suffer higher rates in the following: suicidal thoughts and attempts, alcoholism and drug abuse, depression, victims of  bullying, mental and emotional issues. For many, tween and teen years mean a daily struggle to get through the day.

Across the country, many school districts attempt to reduce attacks on LGBTQ+ by promoting a positive environment. This includes developing trust between students and staff, maintain counseling and open communications, and programs promoting respect and tolerance.  Sexual minority students feel more positive about themselves and do better overall in a nonjudgmental, supportive school climate. Many Florida districts openly proclaim this goal in statements found in their  codes of conduct.

Florida’s Polk County Board pledges to “vigorously enforce its           prohibition against harassment based on race, color, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation, transgender status or gender identity). Osceola School District will not tolerate behavior by students or staff which ”insults, degrades, or stereotypes any race, gender, disability, physical condition, ethnic group, religion, sexual orientation”. Palm Beach County has extensive, vivid behavioral regulations regarding anti-gay actions, whether verbal or physical.

Stemming from a Supreme Court ruling, codes of conduct are in every school district. They’ve grown from pamphlet-sized delineations of simple infractions and consequences, to quasi legal booklets with dozens of pages informing the school community of rights, responsibilities, expectations, as well as infractions and consequences.

Broward County’s Discipline Code has an aggressive approach to  students’ wellbeing. A full page on human trafficking discusses sexual exploitation, explaining LGBTQ+ is especially vulnerable. According to the BCDC, Florida ranks third in sex trafficking among states, which attests to why some districts are concerned about high-risk populations.    Also, the Broward Code expressly forbids (pg. 18):

Harassing others because of age, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, marital status, race, religion, or sexual orientation.”

 Bullying a student for gender expression is no different than harassing someone for race or religion; everyone’s case will be treated equally. Since all students receive or can access the district guide online, Broward—and other Florida districts expressing similar policies—violate Don’t Say Gay (DSG) as soon as they distribute the behavioral rules.

Broward County’s code also states curriculum policy in the general area of family and personal health (p. xvii). K-3 includes lessons on feelings, positive self-image, staying healthy. Grades 4-5 discuss puberty, HIV, friendship, self-esteem; grades 6-8 covers abstinence, decision making, HIV. High Schools teach about abstinence, risk, exploitation, health.

 Teaching is about asking questions, providing answers, showing choices, pointing ways forward—helping kids understand. This applies across the K-12 curriculum. Although prohibition lessens to “age and developmentally appropriate”  after grade 3, primarily because “age and developmentally appropriate” interpretations have been wrested from educators and co-opted by politicians. Under  DSG, teachers and deans will either break the law or their professional responsibility. Kansas and Ohio are considering similar legislation as Florida’s. The chilling effect for teachers across the country will be more like an Ice Age, as every breath vaporizes with potential disciplinary or legal action regarding any utterance about LGBTQ+.

 Activist parents and crusaders see themselves as good soldiers in the culture wars. They could demand random visits to classrooms; tell their children to record or video a teacher; Ask a child what the teachers discussed in class; give instructions to write  down and report back anything on the subject. Inquiries like these go beyond the normal parental questioning, weaponizing kids, who like nothing more than getting a teacher in trouble.

Besides classroom instruction, other services support the educational environment, such as guidance counselors, school psychologists, social workers, and the disciplinary agents. They all have a kite-string thin tightrope to walk, especially deans.  While not a classroom per se, these support offices may be construed as a classroom and the communication with the students as instructive.

These vital interactions in discipline cases inherently contain serious discourse about gender identity or homosexuality. Based on this, counseling the victim and dealing with the perpetrator will automatically place the school officials in the crosshairs of DSG.  These incidents cannot be resolved without professional responsibilities and the new law being in abject conflict.

Students accused of conduct infractions are entitled to due process. An investigation ensues, followed by such measures as guidance, counseling, discussion, and restorative sessions, as well as more severe consequences. It is impossible to discuss an LGBTQ+  incident without talking about gay or gender expression. Any lawyer worth his shingle will have no problem proving a K-3 violation or the “age and developmentally appropriate” clause. It only takes one sentence in a forty-minute conference with a student to find violations of the law’s standards.

Florida’s new educational waters ring the buoys’ alarm bells, as  potential sacrifices—teacher and LGBTQ student both--dangle defenselessly, holding their breath in fear and uncertainty, like so many baby seals in the heated water.

 Maybe that’s the whole idea of Governor DeSantis’ most dangerous gayme.