“Don’t Say Gay” is a lie

If Twitter were your go-to source for news, you’d think the Florida legislature had passed a bill banning teachers, students, and even the average civilian from saying the word “gay.” But this is, of course, a lie.

Sadly, we’re used to seeing lies catch fire on social media and in the news. Despite initial reports, the MAGA cap–wearing Covington Catholic kids didn’t instigate a racist standoff with a Native American man. No matter what the chyron writers at CNN say, the riots in Kenosha, Wis., weren’t “mostly peaceful.” Amidst breathless claims otherwise, there was no evidence Border Patrol agents were whipping migrants. Facebook censored people for saying it, but COVID may not have had a natural origin. And, no, the Florida legislature did not pass a bill that prohibits a person from saying the word “gay.”

Critics have labeled Florida’s House Bill 1557, which solidifies parental rights in education, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, claiming it prohibits teachers from saying the word “gay” or, at least, from talking about sexuality to students.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek reportedly expressed his disappointment in the bill. Author Glennon Doyle (half-jokingly) urged people to “please commit to saying gay every few minutes … to offset Florida.” Some, including an opinion writer for USA Today, have suggested that the bill will encourage “LGBTQ youth” to kill themselves.

The reactions are—and are fueled by—outright propaganda. Just seven pages long, the bill focuses only on kindergarteners through third graders, prohibiting classroom discussions of “sexual orientation or gender identity” and requiring school districts to disclose important information about a K–3 child and his or her well-being to their parents.

I encourage you to read the bill, then ask yourself what kind of person would oppose these commonsense boundaries and why. What could possibly be the innocuous, logical, rightful objection to them?

Perhaps one will say: Children who come from abusive homes may need to confide in a trusted teacher about sensitive topics such as sex and gender. This bill puts those kids in jeopardy, it is claimed.

First, to reiterate, we’re talking about 5- through 9-year-olds. How many children in this age cohort are even thinking about sexual orientation and so-called “gender identity”? The number of kids who, without the prompting of an adult, are interested in these kinds of conversations is likely negligible.

Second, this bill does not even prohibit these kinds of conversations; it prohibits formal classroom discussions about them. If an individual child wants to ask a teacher about gender or sex, the teacher is not prohibited by this bill from responding. She is simply required to disclose any information about the child, particularly information related to their health or well-being, to the parent.

Third, if a teacher suspects that a child will be abused because of their stated feelings or for any other reason, Florida’s mandatory reporting laws require the teacher to report her concerns to the proper authorities.

So, again, with these facts in mind, what is the well-meaning, reasonable opposition to this bill?

I am hard-pressed to think of one valid reason, even as I have attempted a good faith effort of putting myself in a progressive’s shoes. The most charitable explanation I can give is that most people angrily protesting and reporting on the bill have not read it.

In my opinion, the bill doesn’t go far enough. There is no reason for a teacher to hold classroom discussions, particularly without the informed consent of parents, about “sexual orientation” or “gender identities” with students of any age. That is not the purpose of school.

It is the job of parents to engage in these kinds of discussions. Parents are the God-given caretakers and stewards of their children. They alone have the best interest of their child at heart. They—not teachers or administrators—will be affected, for better and for worse, by the lifelong choices their children make.

One benefit, however, of the narrow scope of this bill is that it highlights the rabidity of modern progressivism. That politicians, activists, and liberal voters are up in arms about the bill proves how desperate this ideology is to indoctrinate children with its tenets from the earliest ages possible.

Let this serve as a wake-up call, parents: Someone is always seeking to disciple your children with their worldview. There is no neutral ground, particularly when it comes to education. As C.S. Lewis argued, “Every square inch, every split second is claimed by God, and counterclaimed by Satan.”

You, Mom and Dad, are your child’s best teacher and his or her greatest defense against the powers that seek to overtake them. Stand firm, push back, and do all that you can to teach, raise, and shape your children in the wisdom of the Lord. Their future—and the future of our country—depends on it.