Don’t say gay: Frightening updates on the bill
Today, Florida’s homophobic “Don’t Say Gay” bill is being debated in the House. An amendment has been added to the already harmful proposal that would require schools to inform parents of their child’s sexual orientation if said information was shared with them. The new amendment goes so far as to put a time stamp on when the exchange of information should take place.
Initially, the bill had some protections in place for students who confided personal information about their sexual orientation to school employees if they were likely to face abuse, abandonment, or neglect at home as a result. This new amendment seems to take those protections away.
Now, if the bill passes, school officials will be required to disclose any information a student shares with them about their sexual orientation with that child’s family within six weeks of learning the information themselves. Failure to comply opens up schools and school officials to lawsuits.
The outing of students like this would place many LGBTQ kids in harm’s way and make schools an even more unsafe environment for this subgroup of students than it already is. The bill currently has fourteen amendments to vote in or veto before it goes to the next step of the legislative process. We are watching this situation very closely today as the amendments are debated on the house floor.
Watch this space for more breaking news as the day progresses. You can read our initial report on the bill here. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for all queer stuff!
