TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law on Monday that forbids instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, a policy that has drawn\u00a0intense national scrutiny\u00a0from critics who argue it marginalizes LGBTQ people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The legislation has pushed Florida and DeSantis, an ascending Republican and\u00a0potential 2024 presidential candidate, to the forefront of the country\u2019s culture wars. LGBTQ advocates, students, Democrats,\u00a0the entertainment industry\u00a0and the White House have dubbed the measure the \u201cDon\u2019t Say Gay\u201d law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DeSantis and other Republicans have repeatedly said the measure is reasonable and that parents, not teachers, should be broaching subjects of sexual orientation and gender identity with their children. The law went into effect just days after DeSantis signed a separate bill that\u00a0potentially restricts\u00a0what books elementary schools can keep in their libraries or use for instruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe will make sure that parents can send their kids to school to get an education, not an indoctrination,\u201d DeSantis said to applause before he signed the sexual orientation and gender identity measure during a ceremony at a preparatory school outside Tampa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The law states: \u201cClassroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.\u201d Parents would be able to sue districts over violations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Public backlash began almost immediately after the bill was introduced, with early criticism lobbed by Chasten Buttigieg, the husband of U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and condemnation from LGBTQ advocacy groups. Democratic President Joe Biden called it \u201chateful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the bill\u00a0moved through the legislature, celebrities mobilized against it on social media, and criticized it at this year\u2019s Academy Awards. Florida students staged walkouts and packed into committee rooms and statehouse halls to protest the measure, often with booming chants of \u201cWe say gay!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Walt Disney Company, a powerful player in Florida politics, suspended its political donations in the state, and LGBTQ advocates who work for the company criticized CEO Bob Chapek for what they said was his slow response speaking out against the bill. Some walked off the job in protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After DeSantis signed the measure, Disney released a statement saying, \u201cOur goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Throughout debate in the GOP-controlled statehouse, Democrats have said the law\u2019s language, particularly the phrases \u201cclassroom instruction\u201d and \u201cage appropriate,\u201d could be interpreted so broadly that discussion in any grade could trigger lawsuits and create a classroom atmosphere where teachers would avoid the subjects entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe bill\u2019s intentionally vague language leaves teachers afraid to talk to their students and opens up school districts to costly and frivolous litigation from those seeking to exclude LGBTQ people from any grade level,\u201d said state Rep. Carlos G. Smith, a Democrat who is gay. \u201cEven worse, #DontSayGay sends a hateful message to our most vulnerable youth who simply need our support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association, said the law amounts to a political wedge issue for Republicans because elementary schools, especially in kindergarten through third grade, do not teach about these subjects and have state curriculum standards guiding classroom lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis bill is based on a falsehood, and that falsehood is that somehow we\u2019re teaching kids inappropriate topics at an early age, and clearly we\u2019re not,\u201d Spar said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The law\u2019s sponsor, Republican Rep. Joe Harding, has said it would not bar spontaneous discussions about sexual orientation or gender identity in schools but would prevent districts from integrating the subjects into official curriculum. During the bill\u2019s early stages, Harding sought to require schools to inform parents if a student came out as LGBTQ to a teacher. He withdrew the amendment after it picked up attention online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNothing in the amendment was about outing a student. Rather than battle misinformation related to the amendment, I decided to focus on the primary bill that empowers parents to be engaged in their children\u2019s lives,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DeSantis signed the bill after a news conference held at the Classical Preparatory School in Spring Hill, about 46 miles (74 kilometers) north of Tampa. At the ceremony, several young children accompanied DeSantis and other politicians near the podium, with some holding signs bearing the governor\u2019s \u201cProtect Children\/Support Parents\u201d slogan. DeSantis gave the children the pens he used to sign the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n