TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Controversial Parental Rights in Education Act (HB 1557), which has been referred to as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, is expected to be voted on by the Florida Senate Tuesday.
Lawmakers spent hours Monday asking questions and going through amendments on the bill. The Florida Senate rejected more than a dozen amendments aimed at softening the legislation.
If fully passed and signed into law, the legislation says classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity "may not occur" in kindergarten through third grade.
The lead-up to the Senate's session Monday included a series of tweets over the weekend by Gov. Ron Desantis' press secretary. Christina Pushaw suggested anyone who opposed the bill was "probably a groomer" or at least didn't denounce the "grooming" of children.
Her tweets struck a nerve with some members of the LGBTQ+ community, who have lived through a history of hateful rhetoric in which certain anti-gay activists have falsely associated gay people with child abuse in the United States.
In an email to First Coast News, Pushaw says in part:
"I stand by what I said. It’s completely inappropriate for adults to instruct children in VPK-3rd grade about sexuality. These are kids aged 3-9...Talking about adult topics with young children is a tactic of groomers."
Equality Florida, a political advocacy group that promotes protections for the LGBTQ+ community, says its already preparing in the event the bill passes through the senate Tuesday and goes to the governor's desk.
"Our job is to show up once again to fight for LGBTQ young people, because they're worth fighting for," Brandon Wolf, Equality Florida Press Secretary saud. "And then, to get up right after that and figure out what's next. We have begun talking to our legal partners about what a legal challenge of the State of Florida would look like."
The full statement from Pushaw regarding her tweets is as follows:
"I stand by what I said. It’s completely inappropriate for adults to instruct children in VPK-3rd grade about sexuality. These are kids aged 3-9. It is disgusting to sexualize them. There is no good reason a teacher needs to talk to a 7 year old about sex, any questions a child has at that age should be addressed by their parent or guardian.
Talking about adult topics with young children is a tactic of groomers, and as I said, not everyone who opposes the bill is a groomer — but they apparently don’t see a problem with adults instructing very young children about sexual topics. And sadly, that creates an environment where grooming can happen.
The governor has never referred to the bill as an anti-grooming bill or used that term. It was my personal account and I was tweeting off work hours. The governor in his statements about this legislation, has emphasized the importance of parental rights and making sure all instruction in our schools is developmentally appropriate. For ages 3-9, classroom instruction on sexual topics is not developmentally appropriate, and it’s difficult to understand why anyone would disagree.
I don’t regret raising concerns about child safeguarding. If you are concerned about the emotionally charged nature of the debate, perhaps you should ask this question of the opponents of the bill, who have been baselessly accusing us of homophobia — when the bill itself doesn’t single out the LGBT community or even mention the word “gay.” Any type of sexual content, whether it’s straight, LGBT or anything else, is equally inappropriate for 3-9 year old children — and I can’t believe that is controversial to rational adults.
My role as a spokesperson is to help convey the governor’s messages and shape the broader conversation around policy issues that are relevant to Floridians. I generally use social media to debunk lies spread by political actors and their mouthpieces in the media, such as the blatant lie that HB 1557 is the “Don’t say gay” bill or targets LGBT people in any way."