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Culture War Roundup for the week of March 6, 2023

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The Florida bill was absolutely meant to curb gay influence. Er, ("kids trying on different kinds of things they hear about and different kinds of identities and experimenting."](https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2022/03/08/dont-say-gay-bill-passed-florida-lawmakers-heads-gov-ron-desantis-lgbtq-youth-public-schools/9422420002/), to quote the sponsor.

  1. Mandatory notification of changes in services or monitoring of students' mental, emotional or physical health. "The procedures must reinforce the fundamental right of parents to make decisions regarding the upbringing and control of their children..." I assume this is directed at gender or possibly closeted kids.

  2. Preventing districts from withholding mental, emotional, or physical health information from parents, or encouraging students to do the same. Presumably targeting gender counseling or transition.

  3. Prohibiting classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in K-3 or if not developmentally appropriate. This is a central example of erasure.

  4. Constraining student support services to those approved by the state Department of Education. Again, targets gender or sexuality support.

  5. Requiring districts to notify parents of any available healthcare services.

  6. Requiring districts to run any well-being questionnaires or health screening forms by parents.

  7. Establishing procedures for parents to reconcile their concerns with principals or, if unresolved, escalate to legal action. In combination with 5 and 6, this sets up a heckler's veto, since any sufficiently motivated parent can threaten the district with declaratory judgment. Seeing as

Bill text here.

The only provisions which are limited to K-3 are the questionnaire and classroom instruction ones. I would also read the classroom instruction paragraph as setting up a ban on such discussion regardless of age, judging by the qualifier "not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards."

Some of the provisions are obviously reasonable. Some of them are overreaches likely to be abused, a heckler's veto given to the most litigious parents. Both categories are directly targeted at LGBT politics, which has been actively pushing for support services and classroom instruction.

Both categories are directly targeted at LGBT politics, which has been actively pushing for support services and classroom instruction.

If this means these provisions are anti-LGBT, that means decades of separation of church and state cases are anti-Christian. I disagree with both of these framings.

Maybe LGBTQUP+ people should start their own schools like the Catholics if they don't like the government keeping their propaganda out of public education.