Leftist activists and members of the corporate media appear to be determined to spread fake news about Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Bill, continuing to mislabel it and spread false narratives in an apparent attempt to indoctrinate children.
Florida’s state Senate passed the measure this month, effectively sending it to Gov. Ron DeSantis’s desk. For weeks, the left has falsely label the legislation in an apparent attempt to deceive parents and voters, deeming it the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. However, the bill is quite simple in that it bans inappropriate classroom discussions on gender identity and sexual orientation for children in kindergarten through third grade.
The text of the bill reads in part:
Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.
Despite the left’s steady stream of misinformation, the measure does not ban specific words or phrases. In fact, it does not even mention the word key to the left’s mantra — “gay.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has repeatedly set the record straight.
“You actually look at the bill, and it says no sexual instruction in grades pre-k through three. And so how many parents want their kindergarteners to have transgenderism or something injected into classroom instruction?” DeSantis asked during a press conference this month, explaining it is providing assurances for parents.
“It’s basically saying for our youngest students — 4-year-olds, 5-year-olds, 6 years and 7 – do you really want them to be being taught about — and this is any sexual stuff, but I think clearly right now we see a lot of focus on the transgenderism, telling kids that they may be able to pick genders and all that,” he continued.
“Yeah, you can create a false narrative, you can stage a protest, you can do all those things, but you’re not telling the truth about what’s actually there,” DeSantis added.
Yet, activists and corporate media outlets have continued to perpetuate the lies, even as supposedly “family-friendly” companies such as Disney grovels to LGBT activists.
The company’s CEO, Bob Chapek. essentially apologized or not being more outspoken against the Parental Rights in Education Bill and said Disney’s leaders “chose not to take a public position on it because we thought we could be more effective working behind-the-scenes, engaging directly with lawmakers — on both sides of the aisle.”
He also said he contacted the governor “to express our disappointment and concern that if the legislation becomes law, it could be used to unfairly target gay, lesbian, non-binary and transgender kids and families.” He groveled further, asserting that he needs to be a “stronger ally” to gay and transgender employees. It remains unclear what that has to do with keeping age-inappropriate discussions out of the classrooms of young children.
DeSantis, in turn, blasted Disney’s hypocrisy.
“The chance that I am going to back down from my commitment to students and back down from my commitment to parent rights simply because of fraudulent media narratives or pressure from woke corporations — the chances of that are zero,” he said as a response.
“And when you have companies that have made a fortune of being family-friendly and catering to families and young kids, you know, they should understand that parents of young kids do not want this injected into their kid’s kindergarten classroom,” he added, blasting Disney for criticizing parents’ rights but continuing to line its pockets through its relationship with the Communist Party of China (CCP).
Even still, leftists have turned a blind eye to truth, pushing for transgender ideology to be introduced to 5, 6, 7, and 8-year-olds. Democrat Florida lawmakers have engaged in gay chants while activists beg people to donate to a “Say Gay” billboard campaign as part of an attempt to “humiliate” DeSantis and Republicans, although it remains unclear how that would do so:
Actress Gabrielle Union is among the throng of leftist celebrities who has touted the fake news, expressing disappointment over Disney’s delayed reaction to the measure.
“Somebody asked me, ‘Are you disappointed?’ I’m disappointed when my order isn’t right at In-N-Out. I don’t even think that’s a word that you could use for something like this, where children’s lives are literally hanging in the balance,” she told Variety.
“We need to own that if you truly are taking stands against hate and oppression, you should not fund hate and oppression. Period. The damage is done,” she added.
Even polling questions have misrepresented the measure, putting the left’s mischaracterization front and center. However, what is perhaps most telling is, even in the dishonesty, half still support it. When asked in an honest manner, however, most voters say they would support a similar measure in their state.
Yet, leftists, including a slew of Democrat lawmakers, have continued to label the measure both “reprehensible” and “homophobic.” But DeSantis has not backed down.
“Here’s what I can tell you. In the state of Florida, we are not going to allow them to inject transgenderism into kindergarten,” he said during a stop in Boca Raton this month.
“First graders shouldn’t have woke gender ideology imposed in their curriculums, and that is what we’re standing for. We’re standing for the kids and we’re standing for the parents,” he continued:
And I can tell you this: The chance that I am going to back down from my commitment to students and back down from my commitment to parent rights simply because of fraudulent media narratives or pressure from woke corporations — the chances of that are zero.
Days later, DeSantis urged people to “get out of their bubble and actually talk to parents in this state because they do not want this in kindergarten or first grade or second grade.”
It remains unclear why leftists are determined to inject discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity into kindergarten classrooms, but one recent poll from The Economist/YouGov might provide a glimpse into their mentality, as 66 percent of Democrats apparently believe that an individual can be either a man or woman, regardless of their biological sex.
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