Florida Parental Rights in Education Act

The Parental Rights in Education Act (HB 1557), commonly referred to as the "Don't Say Gay" law, is a Florida state law passed in 2022 that regulates public schools in Florida. The law is most notable for its controversial sections which prohibit public schools from having "classroom discussion" or giving "classroom instruction" about sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through third grade or in any manner deemed to be against state standards in all grades; prohibits public schools from adopting procedures or student support forms that maintain the confidentiality of a disclosure by a student, including of the gender identity or sexual orientation of a student, from parents; and requires public schools to bear all the costs of all lawsuits filed by aggrieved parents.

Introduced by Florida state legislators Joe Harding and Dennis Baxley, the legislation is generally (though not unanimously) supported by the Republican Party. In the Florida House of Representatives, the act passed in a 69 to 47 vote on February 24, 2022; with 68 Republicans and 1 Democrat voting for it; and 40 Democrats and 7 Republicans voting against it. The Florida Senate passed the bill in a 22 to 17 vote on March 8, 2022; with 22 Republicans voting for it; and 15 Democrats and 2 Republicans voting against it. Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed the bill on March 28, 2022, and the act went into effect on July 1 of that year. Its passage has prompted the introduction of various similar laws within other states and the federal government, and Florida legislators have introduced bills expanding the scope of the law. The Florida Board of Education later expanded the ban on teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity to all grades K-12 in April 2023, with the exception of health or reproductive courses.

The bill received support from Republican politicians and conservative organizations. However, the bill has also received widespread backlash, especially from students, who demonstrated against the act throughout Florida by holding walkouts across middle and high schools. Additional organizations who have issued statements against the act include those representing teachers, pediatricians, psychologists, and hundreds of major corporations. Most prominently among businesses, The Walt Disney Company came out in opposition to the legislation following protests by its employees, precipitating a feud between Disney and DeSantis that resulted in the eventual renaming of the Reedy Creek Improvement District and transferring the power to appoint its board from Disney to DeSantis and the governorship. Polls have shown both a plurality or majority opposition to the act or support for the act, with support for the act being higher among older generations and opposition to the act being higher among younger generations.

Multiple lawsuits were filed against the act with the support of advocacy groups representing parents and families of LGBT+ children; numerous other advocacy groups have also issued statements opposing the act. After a federal district court dismissed one suit, the Eleventh Circuit (considering an appeal) indicated it would likely rule against the Parental Rights in Education Act. The groups settled with the state in March 2024 to purposely narrow the law to restrict only the direct teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation in classrooms, while once again allowing discussions of LGTBQ+ concepts between teachers and students and allowing libraries to carry LGBTQ-related books.