"The district’s general counsel pushed back against teachers’ alarm in an email, and cautioned elementary school teachers against displaying or wearing anything 'that may elicit discussions' that may violate the law. 'Oh, so only K-3 teachers need to go back into the closet, I guess, not the rest,' says Clinton McCracken, a former art teacher who just took the helm of the district’s union."

"Taking a break from 21 years of in-classroom instruction, Clinton McCracken is giving up his job teaching art at Howard Middle School so he can begin leading the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association."

"It's really hurtful. The government is insinuating that there is something inappropriate or dirty about being gay and that children should be protected as if I were a threat, when my main concern is to help them," notes Mr. McCracken, who married his longtime partner in 2012. “I really thought we had reached a stage where LGBTQ+ rights were accepted,” he says.

“Orlando area teachers “worry they might not be able to discuss the Pulse nightclub shooting in the classroom if the measure passes. Others wonder how they would respond when a student wants to talk about their sexual orientation.” Florida teachers also worry that the bill will undo all the work that has been done across the state to create safe spaces for LGBTQ students after Florida’s public schools became some of the safest and friendliest for LGBTQ students in the country.”

"I could be standing in front of my classroom and talking about Andy Warhol or Keith Haring, and it would be a great detriment to my students' learning and art if they didn't understand that those artists were gay, and that identity for them completely impacted the artwork that they created," McCracken said.

"For Clinton McCracken, who has taught art for 21 years at Howard Middle School Academy of Arts in Orlando, this law feels like a hateful, personal attack. McCracken points to a 2021 survey from the Trevor Project, a nonprofit suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ youth, which found that 42% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. "I can tell you as someone who grew up as a gay boy, how real that statistic is," he says, "and how dangerous it is that these Republican legislators are playing with the safety of our vulnerable youth. … This is a created culture war from [Gov. DeSantis] so that he can achieve his political ambitions. That's all this is."

"This is a created culture war from him so that he can achieve his political ambitions. That's all this is," McCracken says. "So yeah, I'm not teaching kids how to be gay in my classroom, but I'll tell you what I am doing. I am trying with all my power to teach kids to be OK with who they are."

“This is a dangerous bill, which basically tells our GLBTQ students that something is wrong with them,” said Clinton McCracken, 49, a teacher at Howard Middle School Academy of Arts. “This bill says I won’t be able to have conversations or be able to create an affirmative space for my students.”

"Clinton says he’s seen more teachers he knows leave the profession now than ever before in his 20 years in education, after being fed up with working conditions and low pay during the pandemic."