Ivy Ceballo/Tampa Bay Times
A Pride flag billows in the wind as students go to join a protest in Tampa in 2022 against what critics call the “Don’t Say Gay” law. The state has reached a settlement to clarify parts that LGBTQ families found discriminatory.
A parental rights law may soon lose a lot of the controversial elements that led critics to give it the well-known nickname “Don’t Say Gay.”
The state reached a settlement Monday that provides new guidance and removes what lawsuit plaintiffs described as the most discriminatory interpretations of a 2022 law known as “Parental Rights in Education.” The law bans or restricts instruction of sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools.
While the original language in “Parental Rights in Education” never specifically banned gay-straight alliances, library books with gay characters or class projects on LGBTQ subjects, the law’s vague language led to different interpretations and inconsistent enforcement.
“We’re excited that we will know what we can and can’t do,” Broward Schools Superintendent Peter Licata said Tuesday. “It gives teachers clarity on what they can teach, how they can teach it and what they can say.”
Here are some common questions about what the law allows and still prohibits.
Q: Will teachers now be able to teach about LGBTQ topics?
A: The law remains in effect that bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-8 and limits it in high school. But the settlement clarifies that it’s not LGBTQ-specific.
“The Statute restricts classroom instruction on ‘sexual orientation ‘ and ‘gender identity,’ not homosexuality and transgender identity,” the settlement said. “For example, it would violate the statute to instruct students that heterosexuality is superior or that gender identity is immutable based on biological traits.”
Still not allowed would be a teacher saying, “All right guys, today, we’re going to talk about heterosexuality and homosexuality. Get out your notebooks,” said John Quinn, of Kaplan, Hecker & Fink, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.
Q: Do any mentions of sexual orientation or gender identity in class count as instruction?
A: No. Incidental references of LGBTQ people in classroom discussions are allowed, the settlement says.
Class discussions and schoolwork are not considered instruction, even if the student addresses sexual orientation or gender identity.
Teachers will be free to respond or answer questions “if students discuss their identities or family life,” the settlement says.
“Just as no one would suggest that references to numbers in a history book constitute instruction on mathematics, the statute would not prohibit incidental references in literature to a gay or transgender person or to a same-sex couple,” the settlement said.
Q. Will library books on LGBTQ topics be allowed?
A. Yes. Library books that are not used for instruction would not fall under the restrictions of the law, the settlement said. This has been a major issue as Florida school districts have reviewed and sometimes removed numerous books with LGBTQ content.
The settlement does not affect the ability of parents or residents to challenge books they believe are sexually explicit or not age appropriate.
Q. Are teachers allowed to talk about their LGBTQ family or display a Pride flag, a “safe space” sticker or a photo of their same-sex partner?
A. The law does not prohibit “mere classroom references to a person’s family — whether gay or straight, transgender or cisgender,” the settlement states. “The statute does not restrict gay and transgender teachers from putting a family photo on their desk.”
Safe space stickers, which teachers put up to oppose bullying and show support for LGBTQ students, are not prohibited, the settlement says.
The settlement is silent on whether teachers can display Pride flags or other rainbow items as part of their classroom decorations.
Q. Will gay-straight alliances be allowed to meet on school campuses? Can students bring same-sex dates to dances?
A. Yes. The statute does not “prohibit participation in extracurricular activities such as Gay-Straight Alliances or book fairs.”
The law does not restrict lines about LGBTQ issues in school musicals, dancing between persons of the same gender at a school dance or wearing clothing inconsistent with students’ gender assigned at birth.
“None of that is ‘classroom instruction,’” the settlement said.
While extracurricular activities were never part of the law, some of these events received scrutiny.
Last year, Boone High School in Orlando canceled a “Drag and Donuts” event after the Florida Department of Education questioned whether it was “age and developmentally appropriate and indicated any administrator, teacher or staff member in attendance may be investigated and jeopardize their professional license,” the school’s principal told parents.
Quinn said one of his plaintiffs in the lawsuit was president of a gay-straight alliance but “their faculty sponsor said that they didn’t think that they could participate anymore so it collapsed.”
In 2022, the Broward School District asked schools to cancel book fairs, where students and families can buy donated books, out of concern that some of the titles might violate the state law. The district later reversed that decision.
Q. Does the settlement impact laws that ban transgender girls from playing on girls sports’ teams and transgender students using the restroom that matches their gender identity?
A. No. Those bans were the result of laws separate from the Parental Rights in Education law and are not affected by the settlement.
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Q. Will teachers be required to use students’ preferred pronouns?
A. No. A law passed last year, deemed by critics as “don’t say they,” said no teacher or student can be required to refer to a person by pronouns that don’t correspond with their sex at birth. That law is separate from the one referenced in the settlement.
Q. Can school boards pass resolutions in support of LGBTQ students, staff and community members.
A. Yes. All three South Florida district considered resolutions recognizing October as LGBTQ History month. While Palm Beach County’s resolution passed without issue, some School Board members in Broward and Palm Beach County argued that the resolution might violate the Parental Rights law. A split Broward board approved it, while the Miami-Dade board rejected it.
Roberta Kaplan, a plaintiff’s lawyer form Kaplan, Hecker & Fink, said there’s still no requirement that school districts recognize LGBTQ-related occasions. “But if it’s part of their past tradition, and they’re going to all of a sudden decide not to do it, the justification for that can’t be this law,” Kaplan said.
