Florida removes all LGBTQ support documents from schools after 'convenient' complaint about one sentence from out-of-date guide

The DeSantis Administration is trying to make this a reality for LGBTQ Floridians.

 In defending Florida's  'Don't Say Gay' law (passed in March of this year), Gov. DeSantis and the rest of its supporters claimed that it was simply for keeping children away from sexually-graphic material.  A lot of us knew however that the law would be used to erase and silence LGBTQ people and undermining resources beneficial to our health and well-being. 

It looks like we are being proven right with this latest move by Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr.  According to WFSU News:

Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. on Wednesday gave his staff the go-ahead to "pull" LGBTQ support documents at all school districts, after a State Board of Education member asserted that some could violate a controversial new law. Board member Ryan Petty said he has “grave concerns” about some LGBTQ support guides provided to students, teachers and school staff members. Petty specifically took issue with one sentence from a Hillsborough County district guide, reading it aloud during a State Board of Education meeting in Pensacola. 

 Here is the sentence; 

“With the limited exception involving the imminent fear of physical harm, it is never appropriate to divulge the sexual orientation of a student to a parent,” the Hillsborough County guide said.

But according to Naples Daily News, the excerpt Petty was reading had already been removed:

But Petty was reading an excerpt that already has been removed following a review of the guide by the Palm Beach County school district. A section on talking to parents and guardians was overhauled substantially after the district’s review. “Parents are entitled to access their students’ educational records. If the information about a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity is contained in a student record, parents are entitled to this information,” the section now says. “Students also have a constitutional right to privacy which includes the right to determine whether or not sensitive information about themselves will be disclosed to others.” 

Petty did not name the law that he suspects is being violated, but the Legislature this year passed a controversial measure (HB 1557) that bars classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades. In older grades, the law prohibits such instruction that is not “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate” for students in accordance with state standards. 

The article went on to say that Diaz immediately signed off on Petty's request. 

This move by Florida to remove LGBTQ support guides from school comes on the heels of the state's  recent attempt  to ban gender-affirming care from kids and Medicaid patients.

According to VICE News:

Less than a month after “Don’t Say Gay” became law, the Florida Department of Health released its memo attempting to provide a scientific explanation for denying gender-affirming care. Then in June, Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration also issued a new policy that no one, not even adults, would be able to access gender-affirming care through Medicaid. 

Rather than referring to the overwhelming body of research that shows positive outcomes of gender-affirming care, Florida instead commissioned hundreds of pages of new material—which did not go through a standard peer-review process—to justify the change. Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo then wrote the state medical board and used these documents as the basis to “[recommend] against certain pharmaceutical, non-pharmaceutical, and surgical treatments for gender dysphoria.”

Florida's report was condemned for deliberate misinformation not only by a group of Yale researchers but also 10 researchers whose work was used in the report. 

The Independent via Yahoo News said the following:

Researchers cited in the Florida health department’s April memo said their work was misrepresented in an attempt to justify denying gender-affirming care to Florida’s trans youth. A report from Vice found that all 12 citations in the memo either distort the work that was cited or come from explicitly anti-trans sources, with Florida’s Department of Health claiming that it could not find any evidence indicating that such treatments are safe, labelling them “experimental” – despite the work they cited saying the opposite.

Not only that, but meetings in which Florida sought to seek public input on this rule were conveniently dominated by those supporting it. According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel:

In what at times appeared more like a tent revival than an agency rule hearing, state health officials on Friday received public input on a proposal that would deny Medicaid coverage for treatments such as puberty-blocking medication and hormone therapy for transgender people. 

 The state Agency for Health Care Administration rolled out the proposed rule in June, drawing harsh criticism from national and state legal and LGBTQ-advocacy groups. Friday’s meeting drew more than 150 people, with supporters of the proposed rule — many of them sporting “Let Kids Be Kids” decals and making biblical references — vastly outnumbering opponents. Speakers supporting the proposal included a Baptist minister, members of the Florida Citizens Alliance, the head of the Christian Family Coalition, the founder of the Florida Prayer Network, a representative of the Florida Federation of Republican Women and a man carrying a giant American flag on a pole. 

 In contrast to typically staid rule hearings, the crowd at Friday’s session frequently broke out in applause and more than once attempted to shout down opponents of the proposal.

Taking into account Florida's rigged effort to stamp out gender-affirming healthcare and now what seems to be a rigged attempt to remove LGBTQ support guides in its schools,  it is not hysterical to guess what's happening in the state. The DeSantis administration is undertaking a steady, deliberate, and cynically thought-out strategy to wreck the lives of LGBTQ Floridians. And if  we all (LGBTQ people, our allies, the media, etc)  don't loudly and strenuously call it out, it will probably be used as a framework to create havoc against LGBTQ people on a nationwide scale. 

Especially if the GOP takes over Congress in the upcoming midterms.

None of this is by accident. And certainly none of it is about protecting anyone, especially children. It's about bigotry, obscene thirsts for power, and scapegoating.