The Florida Department of Education approved this Wednesday (19) the extension to high schools of the law that prohibits teachers from addressing gender identity and sexual orientation in classrooms and was the trigger for the current confrontation between Governor Ron DeSantis and the Disney group.
This law, called “Parental Rights in Education,” is already in effect between kindergarten and third grade and has now been extended to all K-12, as the American public education system is known through high school. . The extension grew out of a proposal by DeSantis, submitted last month.
Under the law, signed by the Republican governor in March 2022, parents will be able to file lawsuits against the school district and receive compensation if they violate the provision.
The proposal will take effect after a procedural notice period lasting about a month, the Department of Education said.
Progressives nicknamed the law with the expression “Don’t Say Gay”, which generated reaction from the Florida government, which pointed out that the legislation does not mention the words gay and LGBT.
The progressive Florida Campaign for Human Rights and Equality Florida reacted by saying that “this policy will intensify the government censorship that extends across our state, exacerbate our exodus of educators, drive working families out of Florida, and further stigmatize and isolate a population of young people who need our support now more than ever.”
Likewise, Disney, which has its theme parks in Orlando, has publicly opposed the measure.
In March of last year, due to the dispute with DeSantis, the company announced that it would no longer make donations to election campaigns in Florida.
According to information from the Politico website, Disney donated about $ 4.8 million to Florida candidates in the 2020 election cycle, both for Republican and Democratic politicians.
In February of this year, Florida’s Congress passed a DeSantis bill for the state to take over Disney’s special tax district, which had operated autonomously for more than 50 years.
The Florida government claimed at the time that the legislation ended Disney’s self-government statute, making the company “live under the same laws as everyone else and ensure that Disney pays its debts and a fair share of taxes.” .
However, in March, the council appointed by the Republican governor to oversee the district said that an agreement signed by the previous council and Disney two days before the law was passed provided that the company would maintain control over much of the area for 30 years. In some cases, the board could not take action without Disney’s approval.
This week, Republican lawmakers in Florida announced that they intend to implement laws to revoke the agreement signed by the previous board with Disney.
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