Fearing Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay Bill”
Prior to the Trump-era presidency, many of us could see the hope ahead. Our country was finally supporting equality and LGBTQ+ rights. All the harm done over many decades to shun us, to call us perverts, to block our rights, to deny us the right to live our lives publicly seemed like it was finally behind us.
In 2017, that hope was ripped from our hearts and hands as Trump took oath and officially became the 45th president of the United States of America, quickly dividing our nation. Almost immediately following his entry into the White House, the poison of the republican party chose to deliberately attack and retroactively remove all of the hard work in support of the LGBTQ+ community set in place by the Obama administration:
Opposition to the Equality Act
Appointing Anti-LGBTQ Judges
Removed Protections for Trans Youth in Schools
Used Title IX to Discriminate Against Trans Students
...and this is the short list.
In 2021, Biden took office and the world collectively sighed...and some of them tried to light it on fire (but that's an entirely different blog post). We had hope for the first time in what seemed like a million years. Removing Trump did not eradicate the hate that he not only supported but encouraged. The hate-fueled right was still looking to destroy us...and with more fervor than ever before. The latest? Florida's "Don't Say Gay Bill."
By now you have heard many perspectives on Florida's House Bill 46899, which its supporters call the "Parental Rights in Education" bill and those whom oppose the bill call it the "Don't Say Gay Bill." This is a bill that its supporters claim protects kids from being sexualized. In fact the bill has nothing to do with sex at all. It has everything to do with banishing the acknowledgment of an entire population of people; The LGBTQIA+ community.
Those of us not residing in Florida may see this and say, "Did you see what is happening in Florida? Thank god we don't live there." That mentality is harmful though. Remember, kids are sponges. They see and hear things in the news, adults talking in coffee shops, their older siblings debating LGBTQ issues. As an LGBTQ+ therapist I see the stress and pain this bill is causing kids, even in progressive states like mine, in California.
Not being in Florida does not protect LGBTQIA+ kids everywhere from the hate that bills like this communicate to our young people.
Whether you are a parent, a teacher, a therapist, a dentist...you need to speak up about anti-LGBTQ bills like these. Even if your kids are not in Florida, educate them, tell them they matter, tell them they are loved. LGBTQ+ kids are our most vulnerable population of people in the US, falling victim to hate crimes, fear and suicidality. Whether they exist in a state littered with anti-LGBTQ laws or not, what these stories communicate to LGBTQ+ kids everywhere is that they are hated and instills just as much fear in kids in states like California as they do our young people in Florida, Texas or Alabama.
Speak out against these bills...regardless of where you live. Protect our LGBTQ+ youth.
