Florida's crackdown on pronouns that don't match a person's sex trends now
Florida's state legislature gave final approval to a massive education reform bill that targets how teachers and students can use their pronouns in schools, in a move designed to strengthen the state law that was dubbed 'Don't Say Gay.'
Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign the legislation, which also bans diversity programs in colleges.
The Republican governor has pushed a conservative culture agenda in his state ahead of an expected announcement he'll run for president. DeSantis has declared a war on 'woke,' taken on Disney, and pushed to ban sex identity and certain books in schools.
It's also increased his national profile as he takes on LGBTQ rights and one of America's most iconic companies.
Students in Miami-Dade protest Ron DeSantis' education policy
The latest legislation prevents school staffers or students from being required to refer to people by pronouns that don't correspond to the person's biological sex.
It's an expansion of DeSantis' so-called 'Don't Say Gay' law - a state law prohibiting classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The new legislation also bans classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation up to the 8th grade, expanding it legally beyond DeSantis' original proposal.
Republicans argue lessons about sexual identity and gender orientation should be taught at home and not in schools.
'You see society coming at our children in a culture war that has an agenda to make them confused,' Republican state Senator Erin Grall said.
'We are depriving children of the ability to figure out who they are when we push an agenda, a sexualized agenda, down onto children.'
Gov. Ron DeSantis has pushed a conservative culture agenda in his state ahead of an expected announcement he'll run for president
Democrats say it's an attack on LGBTQ rights.
'Let's be honest about at least what this bill is about,' Democratic state Sen. Tina Polsky said on the floor Tuesday. 'It is about trying to silence any discussion about anything different from heterosexuality.'
And the bill strengthens the system in which people can lodge challenges against school books. It requires schools to yank challenged books within five days of someone flagging it. Opponents have charged this is 'book banning.'
DeSantis and his supporters have led an initiative that has led to the removal of material he and his supporters argue are inappropriate for children.
Among the books removed in one school districts
