United States: On Monday, Florida and representatives of LGBTQ activists settled the lawsuit about a state law on classroom instruction in which teachers are free to discuss sexual orientation and gender identity with students older than 3rd grade; at the same time, parents can protect young children from those sensitive topics.
Both sides claimed victory.
Landmark Settlement
A celebrated equality rights group, Equality Florida, which was one of the activists who sued to halt the 2022 law, identified the deal as a landmark achievement, while the office of the Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, placed it as an excellent win against the activists, as reported by Reuters.
Before this law was passed, other states were using it as a model, and culture wars were being fuelled by the country’s political polarization. Critics called the laws “don’t say gay”; instead, that became a usual derogatory expression.
Settlement Details
Rather than scrapping the existing law, the settlement, as ruled by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, establishes a guideline with which state and local authorities can work to help students and teachers talk more openly about sex and gender in the classrooms. They are also allowed to refer to gay and transgender persons while teaching in the class.
However, it also prohibits children of kindergarten through third grade from teaching regarding sexual orientation or gender identity – roughly for 5- to 9-year-olds, not to mention that.
The governor’s spokesperson said that during the campaign, opponents and the media misunderstood the purpose of the law, the primary goal of which is to “keep radical gender and sexual ideology out of the classrooms.”
Parental Notification
Parent’s notification about health services offered at schools and questionnaire availability is part of a school settlement, and parents can also decline the willingness to participate in this case. This is what the governor’s office explains, as reported by Reuters.
However, Equality Florida called off the settlement, a slam on the discriminatory power of the law. The settlement defends the clubbing of students such as the Gay-Straight Alliance, reiterates nondiscrimination policies, and forbids books banning that might be at hand of classroom topics, Equality Florida said.