BYRON YORK: Ron DeSantis and culture war in Florida.
One of the weirder scenes in our recent politics took place this week in the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee. Three Democratic state senators linked arms and did a sort of semi-dance down a hallway singing an impromptu song, “Gay, gay, gay! My daughter’s gay! Gay, gay, gay, gay, gay!” (They had apparently gotten the idea from a Saturday Night Live skit.)
Florida Senate Democrats were so proud of the moment that they posted a video on Twitter with the message: “We’ve got one thing to say to our GOP colleagues — GAY!”
What was that about? The video was another step in state Democrats’ (very successful) campaign to label a Republican-sponsored bill, H.B. 1557, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Democrats claim the bill, which passed the Senate on Monday, would ban the very mention of homosexuality in Florida schools. With “Don’t Say Gay,” they came up with a catchy phrase that many in the media picked up immediately.
For those more curious than some journalists, the first thing to ask is: Does the bill really do that? Does the bill include, perhaps in obscure legislative language, some version of “Don’t Say Gay?” The answer is no, it doesn’t. Here is the part of the bill that has caused so much controversy:
Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.
Notice that the bill prohibits “classroom instruction” on “sexual orientation or gender identity” by teachers or other adults in kindergarten through third grade. It also says that such instruction after third grade must be “age-appropriate” or “developmentally appropriate.” Another way of looking at it is that Florida law will allow classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity beginning in the fourth grade. And that suggests the popular conversation about the bill, from Saturday Night Live on, has been entirely wrong.
The Florida Dems shouting “Gay! Gay! Gay! Gay! Gay!” with a voice-over reminding viewers that Democrats want to groom kids age five through eight should be aired in every state.