This story was originally published in the GenZeal feature of LNP on Sunday, December 31 2023.
By Kaylee Lando ’24
Florida House Bill 1069 — which expanded on the state’s 2022 Parental Rights in Education Act (commonly known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law) — is harmful to LGBTQ+ youth.
House Bill 1069 passed the Florida Legislature earlier this year and was signed into law in May by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Sections of it target transgender youth by restricting school officials from using a student’s preferred title and pronouns.
A section in the bill states: “An employee or contractor of a public K–12 educational institution may not provide to a student his or her preferred personal title or pronouns if such preferred personal title or pronouns do not correspond to his or her sex.”
Sex is defined in the law as the sex assigned at birth. This means that any student who doesn’t use their assigned birth name or pronouns will be referred to by their “deadname” and/or incorrect pronouns.
Florida House Bill 1069 also demands that, “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in prekindergarten through grade 8. … If such instruction is provided in grades 9 through 12, the instruction must be age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
Sexual orientation and gender identity are a part of growing up. Therefore, it’s important that, by middle school at the latest, these topics are being discussed in health classes alongside other material. Demanding that there be no classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity will only create more stigma around these topics.
This expanded law can be harmful to LGBTQ+ youth because it restricts access to inclusive, affirming environments. Such environments are essential, because transgender students are at extremely high risk for self-harm.
Information provided by the federal website Youth.gov states: “Youth who are not heterosexual and/or express their gender in diverse ways are nearly one and a half to three times more likely to have reported suicidal ideation and nearly one and a half to seven times more likely to have reported attempting suicide than heterosexual and cisgender youth.”
This is not surprising, because of the amount of discrimination that LGBTQ+ youth face. A 2021 survey, also cited by Youth.gov, polled nearly 35,000 LGBTQ+ youth and found that “75 percent reported having experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity at least once in their lifetime.”
Because this expanded Florida law aims to silence LGBTQ+ topics and misgender transgender youth, the stigmatizing of these vulnerable groups is only being encouraged to continue.
If this law were rescinded and LGBTQ+ topics were introduced into schools, students could be educated on the struggles those in the LGBTQ+ community face. They could learn about how their actions and words can affect the people around them.
If more people are able to be educated on these topics, it could lessen the amount of stigma, discrimination and violence faced by LGBTQ+ individuals and allow them to live peacefully, as their true selves.
Expanded Law in Florida will have Harmful Impacts on LGBTQ+ Youth
This story was originally published in the GenZeal feature of LNP on Sunday, December 31 2023.
By Kaylee Lando ’24
Florida House Bill 1069 — which expanded on the state’s 2022 Parental Rights in Education Act (commonly known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law) — is harmful to LGBTQ+ youth.
House Bill 1069 passed the Florida Legislature earlier this year and was signed into law in May by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Sections of it target transgender youth by restricting school officials from using a student’s preferred title and pronouns.
A section in the bill states: “An employee or contractor of a public K–12 educational institution may not provide to a student his or her preferred personal title or pronouns if such preferred personal title or pronouns do not correspond to his or her sex.”
Sex is defined in the law as the sex assigned at birth. This means that any student who doesn’t use their assigned birth name or pronouns will be referred to by their “deadname” and/or incorrect pronouns.
Florida House Bill 1069 also demands that, “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in prekindergarten through grade 8. … If such instruction is provided in grades 9 through 12, the instruction must be age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
Sexual orientation and gender identity are a part of growing up. Therefore, it’s important that, by middle school at the latest, these topics are being discussed in health classes alongside other material. Demanding that there be no classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity will only create more stigma around these topics.
This expanded law can be harmful to LGBTQ+ youth because it restricts access to inclusive, affirming environments. Such environments are essential, because transgender students are at extremely high risk for self-harm.
Information provided by the federal website Youth.gov states: “Youth who are not heterosexual and/or express their gender in diverse ways are nearly one and a half to three times more likely to have reported suicidal ideation and nearly one and a half to seven times more likely to have reported attempting suicide than heterosexual and cisgender youth.”
This is not surprising, because of the amount of discrimination that LGBTQ+ youth face. A 2021 survey, also cited by Youth.gov, polled nearly 35,000 LGBTQ+ youth and found that “75 percent reported having experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity at least once in their lifetime.”
Because this expanded Florida law aims to silence LGBTQ+ topics and misgender transgender youth, the stigmatizing of these vulnerable groups is only being encouraged to continue.
If this law were rescinded and LGBTQ+ topics were introduced into schools, students could be educated on the struggles those in the LGBTQ+ community face. They could learn about how their actions and words can affect the people around them.
If more people are able to be educated on these topics, it could lessen the amount of stigma, discrimination and violence faced by LGBTQ+ individuals and allow them to live peacefully, as their true selves.
Sources
https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1223/?Tab=BillText
https://youth.gov/youth-topics/lgbt