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A challenger to Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law isn’t going to be easy to pass.
In late September, a judge struck down the ban on the new law, ruling that the plaintiffs—a group of LGBTQ parents and teachers—lacked legal standing in their case. U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor found that the plaintiffs had not shown a direct connection between the enforcement of the law and “the harm that would result.” Speakers include the State Board of Education, the Florida Department of Education and school boards in Broward, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Orange, and Pasco.
“The real problem is that many of the plaintiffs’ malicious allegations are not bound by the statute as it stands,” Winsor wrote in his decision. “Plaintiffs are arguing that the passage of the law, the ulterior motives, the motivations of the legislators, and the wording of the law will harm them. But no command can override that.”
Related: 16 countries turn to Ron DeSantis and say “GAY GAY GAY”
Winsor also said the plaintiffs could file an amended lawsuit, which they will.
The new challenge alleges that the plaintiffs have suffered “concrete harm” from the Freedom in Education law, which restricts classroom discussion of LGBTQ topics in grades K-3. , opens a floodgate to limit programs for older students if they are deemed “not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate.” The law was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in March and takes effect July 1.
“They’ve been denied the same educational opportunities they want to receive, in the curriculum and beyond, and they’ve been exposed to a racist educational environment that treats LGBTQ people and issues as something to avoid. and avoid, on pain of discipline and responsibility. ,” the lawsuit said. “This type of discriminatory treatment has no place in a free democratic society and must not be allowed to stand.”
The reason for the revision was to determine the issue of legal standing by linking specific examples of violations to the law, such as the Miami-Dade County School Board’s vote to oppose the decision. Let’s celebrate October as LGBTQ History Month. Last year, the district voted 7 to 1 to support such a proposal, but fearing the new law would be violated, all but one board member voted against it in September.
Related: Florida’s largest school district decides to recognize LGBTQ history as illegal now
Other examples include a student who could not find a teacher to support the Gay-Straight Alliance at a Manatee County school, and Broward County schools removing LGBTQ-related books from their libraries .
The lawsuit also brings up the Florida Board of Education’s new law that says K-3 teachers found to have taught their students about LGBTQ issues can have their licenses suspended or revoked.
“The impact of this law is obvious,” the lawsuit says. “It seeks to analyze the equal enrollment of LGBTQ people and issues in Florida’s schools and to stop policies that require equal treatment and support of LGBTQ students. Introduced and banned under threat of prosecution, schools and educators have become silent on discussing or referencing LGBTQ people, and LGBTQ students have been discriminated against, discriminated against, and excluded from non-LGBTQ peers have access to educational opportunities. received.”
A separate lawsuit challenging the law brought by LGBTQ students, their parents and families—and some civil rights groups—was also dismissed by U.S. District Judge Wendy Berger on October 20. Berger, a Trump appointee, ruled out increasing the level of sanctions. -LGBTQ bullying, as “bullying as a fact of life.”
The deadline for plaintiffs to file a new lawsuit is this Thursday.
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