Legislation in Florida known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, criticized as an effort to quash any discussion of LGBTQ families and identities in schools, has become a focal point of contention in the context of ongoing national battles over politics, critical race theory, restrictions on LGBTQ books and anti-transgender sports legislation in state legislatures.

The shock of the potential reach of the measure, which opponents say would make schools vulnerable to lawsuits simply over a teacher responding to a student’s question about a gay family member, followed by comments by Gov. Ron DeSantis signaling support for the bill, has opened up targets in other battles waged by the Democratic Party and progressives seeking attention for other issues and a potential upcoming challenger to President Biden in 2024.

Chief among the fiery battles for which the “Don’t Say Gay” bill has provided kindling is the upcoming presidential election. It’s no secret DeSantis is widely seen as a potential Republican challenger to Biden, who may be vulnerable amid consistently low approval ratings and criticism over his handling of inflation and coronavirus.

After DeSantis made comments last week favorable to the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, saying he thinks it’s “entirely inappropriate” for teachers to be having conversations with students about gender identity, his opponents were quick to take him task and tie him to the legislation. Although the legislation had previously faced criticism from Chasten Buttigieg, who tweeted the legislation “will kill kids,” among the new voices against the legislation were no less than the White House and Biden himself.

“I want every member of the LGBTQI+ community — especially the kids who will be impacted by this hateful bill — to know that you are loved and accepted just as you are,” Biden wrote in a tweet last week. “I have your back, and my administration will continue to fight for the protections and safety you deserve.”

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay person to obtain Senate confirmation for a Cabinet-level role, echoed his husband’s criticism of the bill during an appearance last week on CNN’s “Newsroom.” 

When host Jim Sciutto asked whether the bill would inflict any potential harm the measure on LGBTQ kids, Buttigieg replied, “absolutely.”

“And the reason is that it tells youth who are different or whose families are different that there’s something wrong with them out of the gate, and I do think that contributes to the shocking levels of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts among LGBTQ youth,” Buttigieg said.

The legislation hasn’t gone far in Florida. 

As of this week, one House committee and one Senate committee have approved it and neither chamber has scheduled a floor vote. But with Republican in control of both chambers of the legislature and the governor’s mansion, the measure is well-positioned to become law.

A.G. Gancarski, a reporter with the news website FloridaPolitics.com, told the Washington Blade he could see the “Don’t Say Gay” bill coming up for a floor vote in the near future, pointing out “with these big social-message type bills, it seems like they do one a week in the House and the Senate.”

“It’s going to come up this session because it’s in posture where we’ll hit the floors probably toward the end of session — the last two weeks after committees, where things get kind of kind of crazy and things happen quickly,” Gancarski said. “We’re not there yet. We got plenty of time for this to get through the process, and there are no structural impediments to it. I can’t see what stops this is what I’m saying.”

One saving grace for opponents of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill is DeSantis has stopped short of committing himself to signing it. Gancarski drew a distinction between the support DeSantis has offered the bill compared his support for other bills, such a proposed bans on critical race theory.

“It’s something that Gov. DeSantis has not explicitly endorsed,” Gancarski said. “He hasn’t said, ‘I back these bills.’ Whenever he’s asked about these bills, he speaks conceptually supportive of them. This is true with CFO Jimmy Patronis also. So it’s something that Republicans on the executive level back, but it’s not one of those bills that DeSantis is putting the same emphasis on some other bills with his own name behind it, but he certainly backs it. He’s given every indication he would sign it.”

LGBTQ groups and commentators aligned with the conservative movement, sensing the legislation could become a political liability for DeSantis, were quick to defend the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. 

Chadwick Moore, editor of Log Cabin Republicans’ media arm Outspoken, told Tucker Carlson last week on Fox News said the measure is “a perfectly reasonable, rational bill” being unfairly maligned by Democrats and “childish wacky gay activists.” Brad Polumbo, a gay conservative commentator, in a column for the Washington Examiner criticizes opposition to the legislation as “wildly overblown and not based in reality,” then undercuts his own argument by saying the “language is admittedly rather broad.”

Key portions of the legislation, numbered House Bill 1557 and Senate Bill 1834, reveal the potential penalty for the slightest hint of talk about LGBTQ kids and families in schools. The legislation is restricted to grade schools, although the bill never defines what constitutes a grade school from other places of education.

Under the legislation schools “may not encourage classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity,” or generally in the education system “in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.” Further, the legislation empowers a parent of a student who feel the law was violated to “bring an action against a school district” in court to seek and obtain damages.

Another portion of the bill would give parents “access to information about their child’s mental and emotional well-being, as well as information about any changes to their mental or emotional health,” which critics could lead to teachers being forced to out LGBTQ kids still going through the coming out process to their families.

Equality Florida was out of the gate on Monday with a new TV ad against the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which is the first of two TV against DeSantis’ policies. 

The ad features a young girl in a school classroom about to give a presentation on her heroes, which she subsequently says are her two moms. A red light and buzzer goes off in the classroom, after which a teacher informs the students she should be proud of her two parents. The ad closes within a voice from an overhead, saying “please report to the front office.”

Although the “Don’t Say Gay” bill causing a stir at the national level, Gancarski said opposition to the legislation in Florida comes more from “people who don’t like the DeSantis agenda anyway” and the national outcry may not have the desired effect.

“That’s sort of the rub,” Gancarski said. “The more the White House pushes against DeSantis, the Republicans, the more they take that as validation of their approach. So when President Biden tweeted last week, he set himself up as a foil as the thing moves forward as much as anything vis-and-vis DeSantis-supporter Republicans. And that’s the paradox.”

‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill tied to ban on critical race theory

The “Don’t Say Gay” bill, amid an intense political discussion over topics discussed in schools, is not unlike other measures enacted in Florida and elsewhere seeking to curtail ideas the conservative movement has found objectionable, such as critical race theory or gender ideology. In addition to getting behind legislation against critical race theory, which remains pending before the Florida Legislature, DeSantis signed into law a measure prohibits transgender girls from participating in school sports.

As such, progressives see the fervor over the “Don’t Say Gay” bill as a means to highlight these related initiatives, encouraging the public to view them as one issue and part of a greater effort to further oppress marginalized groups, being clear to tie them all to DeSantis ahead of his potential challenge to Biden in the 2024 election.

Nadine Smith, executive director the LGBTQ group Equality Florida, said Monday in a conference call with reporters the “Don’t Say Gay” bill is part of a “roster of bills that chip away at freedom of expression, allow for surveillance in the classrooms, video monitoring, microphones on teachers to eavesdrop on their conversations with students.”

“They hide behind the guise of parental rights, but really when you read what these laws do they allow anybody in the community, regardless of whether or not they have a child, to challenge any resource and have it removed,” Smith said.

A second ad from Equality Florida unveiled on Wednesday called “The Content of Our Curriculum” against the Stop WOKE Act in Florida, which is the vehicle DeSantis to ban the teaching of critical race theory in school. The legislation, House Bill 7 / Senate Bill 148, among other things, would prohibit teaching members of one race are “morally superior” to members of another race, individuals are inherently racist because of their race or an individual’s “moral character or status” is privileged or oppressed because of race.

The “Don’t Say Gay” bill is also playing into the hands of critics who are decrying efforts to restrict pro-LGBTQ literature in schools and libraries across the country, many of them conservative states like Texas. According to a recent report in NBC News, hundreds of LGBTQ-themed titles have been pulled from libraries across the state for review, sometimes over the objections of school librarians. Many of these books are said to have sexually explicit content, although the Blade couldn’t immediately verify that claim.

George Johnson, who says their book on the Black queer youth experience “All Boys Aren’t Blue” is banned in 15 states, was on the conference call with reporters and said efforts like bans on books are the result of demographic shifts in the United States and the “conditioning of students’ minds.”

“The ultimate goal of book banning is to not just silence us,” Johnson said. “It’s not that they’re trying to say we don’t exist, it’s that the don’t want to condition Generation Z with the proper information about our existence, as well as information about the existence and history of this country. Because then, when Gen Z becomes the next CEOs, the next mayors and the next governors, they may actually think about people who are marginalized because they read about them growing up, because they knew them growing up.”

With state legislatures across the country advancing at a rapid pace bills that would prohibit transgender girls from participating in school sports, LGBTQ rights advocates are also drawing connections between the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and the anti-trans sports measures.

Mary Emily O’Hara, rapid response manager for the LGBTQ group GLAAD, said in the conference call in the national context, more than 170 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced throughout the country, many of which are focused on schools.

“There is no separating book bans from anti-trans sports bans in schools,” O’Hara said. “They both impact students. They’re both about lowering representation on the visibility and equality for LGBTQ students. There is no separating LGBTQ school policy bills from critical race theory bans.”