The Florida state senate passed House HB 1557 aka the “Don’t Say Gay” bill aka “Parental Rights in Education Bill. It will now go to Governor Ron DeSantis’ desk, who has backed the bill and is expected to sign it.

RELATED: A Gay Dad on How Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Will Hurt His Family

Reuters:

Florida’s Senate on Tuesday passed a Republican-backed bill that would prohibit classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for many young students, a measure Democrats denounced as being anti-LGBTQ.

RELATED: Student who Planned & Organized ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Protests Indefinitely Suspended

“We’re going to make sure that parents are able to send their kid to kindergarten without having some of this stuff injected into their school curriculum,” the Republican governor told reporters on Monday.

The legislation, referred to by its opponents as the “don’t say gay” bill, has stirred national controversy amid an increasingly partisan debate over what schools should teach children about race and gender.

@therecount DeSantis to a reporter: “You peddle false narratives” #desantis #florida #dontsaygaybill #lgbtq #fyp #news ♬ original sound – therecount

Republican politicians in the United States say they want to prevent schools from promoting ideologies they see as inappropriate to young students. Democrats say policies like the one proposed in Florida are discriminatory and hateful against minority groups, including the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community.

@beachbabygrandma #dontsaygaybill #florida #trans #lgbtq ♬ original sound – Beachbaby

 In a floor debate before the vote on Tuesday, Democrat Shevrin Jones, the first openly gay Florida state senator, chided his Republican colleagues for pushing for what he considered a harmful bill for political gain.

“As you prepare for this victory lap in the name of parental rights, just know that this is no victory lap,” Jones said to the chamber. “I believe this will be another stain on the history of Florida.”

Civil rights and trial attorney Christa Ramey speaks to how the legislation would expose LGBTQI students to harassment.

Ramey, co-founder of Los Angeles-based civil litigation firm Ramey Law PC, discovered the lack of legal resources for bullied children after having to protect her own child against harassment at school. She has sued school districts on behalf of children who were bullied, physically assaulted and abused, including one boy who was stabbed in the neck and face. Ramey also represents children who have been sexually abused while at school. “This law has now opened the door to an abundance of potential legal issues for school teachers and counselors whose jobs are supposed to be to ensure a safe and welcoming environment for all students, not to uphold the anti-LGBTQI values of politicians.

“The Florida Senate is actively ignoring the fact that gay students are bullied all the time. By refusing to accept the existence of members of the LGBTQI community, they’re putting schools in an impossible position to handle bullying of gay children. Unable to address the elephant in the room, teachers and school officials attempting to counsel the bully and correct their behavior will not be able to get to the root of the problem without opening themselves to litigation from the bully’s parents.

“This issue extends itself to children of same-sex parents. If they’re picked on for the sexual orientation of their family members, teachers and counselors now have to beat around the bush with how they address this. Not only does this negatively impact the child getting bullied but it deprives the bully of the opportunity to learn why they’re wrong beyond hurting someone’s feelings, ultimately exposing vulnerable kids to further abuse.

“This law has a fundamentally wrong understanding of how sexual orientation ties into sex education; it doesn’t. By suppressing conversation about LGBTQI issues until it’s ‘age appropriate’ for children, the law seems to be tying the issue to when students receive sex education courses which have nothing to do with each other.”