The president, Joe Biden, responded on Tuesday to the proposal of the bill promoted by Florida legislators and supported by the governor of this state, Ron DeSantis, which prohibits the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.
Through the social network Twitter, Biden said that he will continue to promote safety and protection for members of the LGBTQ community.
"I want every member of the LGBTQI+ community -- especially the children who will be affected by this hateful bill -- to know that they
are loved and accepted just the way they are," the president said.
On Monday, Florida's governor publicly expressed his support for the bill, calling it "totally inappropriate" for teachers to have conversations with students about gender identity, citing cases in which they allegedly told children, "No Don't worry, don't choose your gender yet."
"Schools have to teach kids how to read, how to write," DeSantis said.
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The governor did not commit to signing the bill, but it was the first time the Republican had shown support for the measure since it was proposed by the state House of Representatives last month.
President Joe Biden answers questions from reporters during a meeting at the White House, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022, in Washington. Andrew Harnik / AP
Echoing DeSantis, proponents of the
Parental Rights in Education bill, which has been dubbed by its critics as the '
Don't Say Gay
'
bill
), argue that discussions of LGBTQ issues are “not age appropriate” for students.
Following the governor's comments, a nearly identical version of the bill in the state Senate was approved Tuesday by the House Education Committee.
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Opponents of the measure argue that the bill would be detrimental to the mental health of LGBTQ children and teachers by preventing them from speaking openly about themselves and their families.
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“Make no mistake: this is not an isolated action.
Across the country, we're seeing
Republican
leaders take action to regulate what students can and cannot read, what they can and cannot learn,
and most concerning, what they can and cannot be," a White House spokesman said in a statement.
State Representative Joe Harding, the Republican who introduced the bill, said during a committee hearing last month that the measure would not prevent students from talking about their families, according to WFLA-TV, the NBC affiliate in Tampa.
He added that teachers would not be prohibited from teaching lessons on LGBTQ history, including discussing the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida.
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But some LGBTQ advocates aren't convinced.
Criticizing DeSantis on Monday, the advocacy group Equality Florida argued that he "is using anti-LGBTQ legislation as a springboard for his national political ambitions."
“His political agenda is not driven by the true needs of our state, but by his desire to appeal to Trump supporters as the two play each other in the 2024 [GOP] Presidential Primary,” the group wrote on Twitter.
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The states of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Mississippi have laws similar to the proposed measure in Florida, according to GLSEN, a nonprofit group that advocates for LGBTQ students.
According to the organization, Arkansas, Tennessee and Montana passed bills last year that would allow parents to exclude students from any lesson or course that mentions sexual orientation or gender identity.
At the same time, seven states -- California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey and Oregon -- have laws requiring curriculum to include LGBTQ people, according to the advocacy group.
With information from
NBC News