Florida
A political future for gay student suspended over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ protest?
At 17, Jack Petocz is already an experienced strategist
Even as a child, Jack Petocz, 17, knew he was different from other boys. “I didn’t like sports. Most of my friendships were with girls,” he said in a phone interview with the Blade, “I already knew I didn’t ‘like’ girls.”
His experience at school helped Petocz, who is gay, to understand his sexuality. The school staff and teachers didn’t try to influence his sexual orientation. “The staff and teachers weren’t trying to push an agenda,” he said, “but I felt supported.”
It takes a lot of courage to come out in rural and suburban Florida, Petocz who lives in Flagler Beach, said, “schools are a safe space to come out.”
“School gave me the courage to come out at home when I was a freshman,” he added.
Politics and advocating on behalf of the LGBTQ and other marginalized communities are Petocz’s passions.
Earlier this month, Petocz, a Flagler Palm Coast High School junior, organized a state-wide student protest against Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
The bill, HR 1557, titled “Parental Rights in Education,” and known as “Don’t Say Gay,” has been approved by Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature. Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign it.
The legislation would forbid classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. The bill would prohibit instruction on these subjects for older students that is “not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate.” If they feel the bill’s provisions are violated, parents would be able to sue school districts.
Supporters of the legislation believe the bill would give parents the right to have more input into what their children are taught in schools. They argue that it’s not “age appropriate” to offer instruction on LGBTQ issues to elementary school students.
Opponents of the bill, from many in the LGBTQ community to celebrities to President Joe Biden, don’t buy this.
Petocz worries about what will happen to LGBTQ students if the “Don’t Say Gay” bill becomes law. If that happens, “LGBTQ students wouldn’t have a safe space in schools,” he said, “bullying and suicide could increase.”
Supporters of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill are “trying to erase us,” Petocz said.
On March 3, Petocz organized a statewide student walkout in Florida against the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Hundreds of students walked out of their classes in more than 20 schools across the state to protest the measure. In Petocz’s school, more than 500 students protested – chanting “Say Gay! Say Gay! Say Gay!” and waving Pride flags.
Following the protest, Petocz was suspended. “They said I was suspended. That they would have to investigate,” Petocz said.
“They told me it was wrong to hand out the Pride flags,” he said, “they said it was menacing.”
“Student leaders were told ‘no flags’ prior to and at the beginning of the event so as to avoid undue safety concerns and campus disruptions,” the Flagler County school district said in a statement.
The protesters were fighting for inclusiveness at a rally against anti-gay politics, Petocz said. “The Pride flag is a symbol of peace, not violence,” he said. “I wouldn’t let them take away our flags and silence us.”
Petocz received an outpouring of support after his suspension. A Change.org petition opposing Petocz’s suspension was signed by 7,559 people.
“As the Supreme Court has ruled, students do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of expression at the schoolhouse gates,” Pen America, the free speech group, said in a statement. “This is especially so considering this was a pre-approved and reportedly peaceful rally. This wrongful suspension must be reversed.”
On March 7, Petocz was permitted to return to school. The suspension will not affect his school record.
“The district has no comment,” Jason Wheeler, a spokesperson for the Flagler County School District emailed the Blade. “Because it is a school-based decision. I can say outside ‘pushback’ had no bearing on the school administration’s decisions.”
The March 3 protest wasn’t Petocz’s first battle with his school. He has fought against books being banned.
“All Boys Are Not Blue: A Memoir – Manifesto,” a teen and young adult novel by George M. Johnson, was removed from the school’s library.
The book is described on Amazon as a “young-adult memoir” that “weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.”
Someone on the school board lodged a criminal complaint against a media specialist who put “All Boys Are Not Blue” in the school’s library. The complaint was dismissed, but the book is still not back in the library, Petocz said.
“There is a process for challenging classroom materials, but we never had a challenge of media center materials,” Wheeler emailed the Blade when asked why the book was still missing from the school’s library, “that is what we are working through right now.”
Three other books were banned, then reinstated, Petocz said. “I set up a link on my Amazon wish list where people could donate banned books,” he said. “Over 400 books appeared on my doorstep! So I could bring them to students who wanted to read them!”
“I got inspiring messages of support from everywhere – Seattle, Massachusetts, California – Florida!” he added.
The “Don’t Say Gay” protest is far from Petocz’s only political organizing effort. He organized Recall FCSB (@RecallFCSB on Twitter), a local, student-led group. “We’re working to recall the bigoted members of the school board,” Petocz said, “so it will be more inclusive and stop hurting people in marginalized communities.”
On the national level, Petocz is a political strategy associate with Gen-Z for Change (@genzforchange on Instagram). The group works for civil discourse and progressive change among Gen Z. The organization will push for the election of progressives in the midterms, Petocz said.
Politics will likely always be embedded in Petocz’s DNA. “I plan to study political science and minor in international affairs,” Petocz said, “after that law school. Then, maybe I’ll run for office.”
Florida
DeSantis signs emergency bill that restores Fla. ADAP funding
Temporary funds to last through June 30
After the Florida Department of Health made huge cuts to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program in January, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed emergency legislation restoring HIV access to more than 12,000 Floridians.
Two months ago, as the Washington Blade reported, the Sunshine State cut the vast majority of those in ADAP by shifting the income levels required for eligibility — without following standard procedure when changing government policy outside of legislative or executive action.
The bill, signed by DeSantis on Tuesday, passed both chambers of the Florida Legislature unanimously and appropriates $30.9 million in emergency bridge funding through June 30, 2026. It restores Florida’s ADAP income eligibility to 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level — the level it was prior to the January cuts. The legislation also requires the FDOH to submit detailed monthly financial reports to legislative leadership beginning April 1.
Under the old policy, eligibility would have been limited to those making no more than 130 percent of the federal poverty level, or $20,345 per year.
“For 10 weeks, 12,000 Floridians living with HIV did not know if they could fill their next prescription. Today, they can,” Esteban Wood, director of advocacy and legislative affairs at AIDS Healthcare Foundation, said in a statement.
The detailed reports now required to be sent to legislative leadership must include all federal revenues and expenditures, including manufacturer rebates; enrollment figures by county and insurance status; prescription utilization by drug class; and any projected funding shortfalls. This is the first time the Legislature has required this level of financial transparency from the program.
DeSantis signed the legislation one day after a Leon County Circuit Court judge denied AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s request for an injunction to block the significant changes the DeSantis administration is making to the program, which it claims faces a $120 million shortfall for calendar year 2026.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a national organization focused on protecting and expanding HIV healthcare access and prevention methods, filed a lawsuit over the change in eligibility, arguing the Florida Department of Health did not follow the laid out path for formally changing policy and was acting outside established procedures.
Typically, altering eligibility for a statewide program requires either legislative action or adherence to a multistep rule-making process, including: publishing a Notice of Proposed Rule; providing a statement of estimated regulatory costs; allowing public comment; holding hearings if requested; responding to challenges; and formally adopting the rule. According to AIDS Healthcare Foundation, none of these steps occurred.
The long-term structure of ADAP will be determined by the 2026–2027 fiscal year state budget, something that lawmakers have until June 30 to finish.
Florida
Fla. House passes ‘Anti-Diversity’ bill
Measure could open door to overturning local LGBTQ rights protections
The Florida House of Representatives on March 10 voted 77-37 to approve an “Anti-Diversity in Local Government” bill that opponents have called an extreme and sweeping measure that, among other things, could overturn local LGBTQ rights protections.
The House vote came six days after the Florida Senate voted 25-11 to pass the same bill, opening the way to send it to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who supports the bill and has said he would sign it into law.
Equality Florida, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization that opposed the legislation, issued a statement saying the bill “would ban, repeal, and defund any local government programming, policy, or activity that provides ‘preferential treatment or special benefits’ or is designed or implemented with respect to race, color, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity.”
The statement added that the bill would also threaten city and county officials with removal from office “for activities vaguely labeled as DEI,” with only limited exceptions.
“Written in broad and ambiguous language, the bill is the most extreme of its kind in the country, creating confusion and fear for local governments that recognize LGBTQ residents and other communities that contribute to strength and vibrancy of Florida cities,” the group said in a separate statement released on March 10.
The Miami Herald reports that state Sen. Clay Yarborough (R-Jacksonville), the lead sponsor of the bill in the Senate, said he added language to the bill that would allow the city of Orlando to continue to support the Pulse nightclub memorial, a site honoring 49 mostly LGBTQ people killed in the 2016 mass shooting at the LGBTQ nightclub.
But the Equality Florida statement expresses concern that the bill can be used to target LGBTQ programs and protections.
“Debate over the bill made expressly clear that LGBTQ people were a central target of the legislation,” the group’s statement says. “The public record, the bill sponsors’ own statements, and hours of legislative debate revealed the animus driving the effort to pressure local governments into pulling back from recognizing or resourcing programs targeting LGBTQ residents and other historically marginalized communities,” the statement says.
But the statement also notes that following outspoken requests by local officials, sponsors of the bill agreed to several amendments “ensuring local governments can continue to permit Pride festivals, even while navigating new restrictions on supporting or promoting them.”
The statement adds, “Florida’s LGBTQ community knows all too well how to fight back against unjust laws. Just as we did, following the passage of Florida’s notorious ‘Don’t Say Gay or Trans’ law, we will fight every step of the way to limit the impact of this legislation, including in the courts.”
Florida
Fla. Senate passes ‘Anti-Diversity’ bill that could repeal local LGBTQ protections
Bipartisan coalition urges Florida House to reject ‘extremism’ measure
The Florida Senate on March 4 voted 25-11 to approve an “Anti-Diversity in Local Government” bill that critics have called a sweeping and extreme measure that, among other things, could repeal local LGBTQ rights protections.
According to Equality Florida, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization, if approved by the Florida House of Representatives and signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, the bill “would ban, repeal, and defund any local government programming, policy, or activity that provides ‘preferential treatment or special benefits’ or is designed or implemented’ with respect to race, color, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity.”
In a March 4 statement, Equality Florda added that the bill would also threaten city and county officials with removal from office “for activities vaguely labeled as DEI,” with only limited exceptions.
The Florida House was scheduled to vote on the bill on Monday, March 9, with opponents hopeful that a broad coalition of both Democratic and Republican lawmakers would secure enough votes to defeat the bill.
“Once again, Gov. DeSantis and Florida lawmakers are advancing one of the most sweeping and extreme bills in the country — this time threatening decades of local progress supporting diverse communities, including the LGBTQ community,” said Equality Florida Senior Political Director Joe Saunders. “This legislation is a sledgehammer aimed at cities and counties that recognize and address the diversity of the people they serve,” he said.
Among the LGBTQ organizations that could be adversely impacted by the bill is the highly acclaimed Stonewall National Museum, Archives and Library located in Fort Lauderdale.
Robert Kesten, the Stonewall organization’s president and CEO, told the Washington Blade the organization receives some funding from Broward County, in which Fort Lauderdale is located, and the city of Fort Lauderdale has provided support by purchasing tables at some of the museum’s fundraising events.
“Based on this legislation, hose things would be gone,” he said. “We also are based in a government building. So, we don’t know what potential side effects that could have.” He noted that the building in question is owned by Broward County and leased by Fort Lauderdale, with the bill’s vaguely worded provision making it unclear whether Stonewall would be forced to leave its building.
“It’s unknown, and we’re really in unchartered waters,” he said.
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