Don't Say... homosexual?

Many people have heard of the bill that was recently passed in Florida that makes it impossible for the subject of sexuality and gender to be brought up in third grade and under. Supporters claim that it is an “anti-grooming” bill. Critics of the bill say it is cruel. In reality, the bill is simply foolish.

The issue with this bill is that it will not make fewer people fruity. Obviously, that is not a bad thing but, like Florida art teacher Clinton McCracken said on NPR, “As a gay man, [the bill] tells him and his LGBTQ students that there's something ‘inappropriate’ about them: that their identity is taboo, or somehow dirty.” What the bill will do is make more people uncomfortable with their gender or sexuality, and uncomfortable with coming out. In that way, there may be fewer homosexuals, but only because homosexuals will not know that they are homosexual, or they will be more ashamed of the fact that they are homosexual, so no one else will know that they are homosexual. It will most likely just make more people homophobic. Activist Brandon Wolf told Vox magazine that “these bills are meant to exploit the general public’s lack of knowledge on trans people and create an opening for further attacks on queer and trans rights. So far, the scorched-earth strategy is working, but its staying power is being tested.” There will be more ignorance, which is ironic, because here I was thinking the point of schools was to be educated.

One could logically argue that, although the bill isn’t right, it may not have such drastic effects as suicide rates going up, and rising levels of LGBTQ+ intolerance, because the bill is only in effect for children from kindergarten through third grade, but… well, supporters are not arguing logically. According to CNN Politics, DeSantis’ spokesperson Christina Pushaw claimed that “If you’re against the Anti-Grooming Bill, you are probably a groomer or at least you don’t denounce the grooming of four to eight-year-old children. Silence is complicity. This is how it works, Democrats, and I didn’t make the rules.” While I appreciate Pushaw’s effort to push her strange logic onto the world, I have one, small, perhaps unimportant question: what are these children supposedly being groomed for?

This bill is so frustrating because the taco analogy is exactly what is happening. People are trying so hard to make people who are part of the LGBTQ+ community apologize for who we are and, to these people, I have one thing to say. I don’t apologize. I don't apologize for being gay, I don’t apologize for being a girl, and I most certainly do not apologize for my opinion, nor do I apologize for my voice. I do, however, apologize to the students in Florida who have to deal with the government telling them to be ashamed of who they are, and the young children who are going to grow up thinking that they are not legal-- that they should be ashamed of something so trivial as the gender of who they love. I’d like for those who support this bill to think about why. What makes this bill one that should be enacted? If the bill can be logically justified, then okay. But if it can’t… think about that, too. Until next time, my dear readers!