On Wednesday, the Republican-controlled legislature of Florida passed several bills cracking down further on forced “diversity” in public schools, including diversity trainings and requiring students and teachers alike to use someone’s “preferred pronouns.”
As reported by the Associated Press, the bills were passed ahead of the end of the state’s legislative session this week. The first bill is an expansion of the pre-existing Parental Rights in Education Act, which has been derogatorily and falsely referred to as the “don’t say gay” bill; the additional bill forbids public schools from mandating that students and teachers refer to someone by pronouns that don’t align with their actual gender, while also banning any classroom instruction on sexuality until the 8th grade.
The bill also makes it easier for parents to issue challenges to any books that are contained in a school’s library, in order to prevent pornographic material from being promoted or sanctioned by schools.
“You see society coming at our children in a culture war that has an agenda to make them confused,” said State Senator Erin Grall (R-Fla.). “We are depriving children of the ability to figure out who they are when we push an agenda, a sexualized agenda, down onto children.”
The second bill bans all public colleges from using state or federal funds to create diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. DEI refers to a series of far-left policies, guidelines, and admissions and hiring practices that are meant to artificially boost “diversity,” primarily along ethnic lines but also with regards to deviant sexualities.
A third bill was passed that forbids people from using restrooms designated for the opposite gender.
Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) is expected to sign all three bills into law. The bills are viewed by some as political stunts to further boost DeSantis’ profile amid speculation that he will announce his candidacy for president in 2024. Every poll shows DeSantis trailing President Donald Trump by a landslide margin.