Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 4-1-22

Local
Middleton Students Protest ‘Don't Say Gay’ Bill
BY PADDY LIN
Tiger TV Network Reporter Middleton High School
Gov. DeSantis signed the bill into law this week.
Students at Middleton High School participated in a school walk-out Friday, March 11th, protesting the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and a proposal by Governor Ron DeSantis that could take money away from several Florida school districts for their support of COVID 19 protocols.
The “Don’t Say Gay Bill,” or HB 1557, prohibits teachers from teaching or talk- ing to their students about issues of gen- der identity and sexual orientation. Some students argue the bill will silence the voices of teachers and students who face issues on mental health, gender, and sex- ual identity.
Additionally, students say parts of the bill will discourage students from seeking help for anxiety, depression, or trauma, which they feel some school districts have done a great job aiding students in this regard. However, the bill requires the need for parental consent for students to
seek such help, and details a list of re- strictions that require parents to be noti- fied of any help a student gets, which teens like Middleton sophomore, Alyssa Lentz argue may exacerbate the prob- lem, especially if a student is dealing with issues at home that they want help with, but don’t want their parents to know about.
“Even if my home's a safe space, I have friends' homes who aren't. Even if these bills are targeted towards the younger years of the education system, what does that mean if I choose to have kids in Florida, and their friends?"
Senior Nick Miguel, the organizer of the walkout, had this to say, “I didn’t know anything about the LGBTQ com- munity four years ago, when I was 14. I didn’t think poorly of them, but I consid- ered them strange. The guy who walked into school with lip gloss and eyeliner seemed nice, but why would I talk to him? He looked different. At that point, there had never been a conversation about LGBTQ expression or any issues facing their community in the classroom.
“Instead, all the information that I had learned about them
Middleton High students gathered on the campus before their Spring Break to protest the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill.
had been from my classmates. All the conversations went something along the lines of making fun of [them] for 'acting gay,' or using the word gay as a general
insult."
Students say if no legitimate conver-
sation in school is led by a teacher, then the students will only be informed by other uninformed students. They feel if teachers are afraid to show themselves for who they are, then they can’t become the proper role models they could be; and they argue getting rid of these classroom discussions will only give students false and misguided beliefs about gender iden- tity and sexual orientation.
"Any time a government wishes to re- strict teaching any content, it will still be learned, only improperly,” Miguel states. The bill is slated to take effect July 1st and Gov. DeSantis has publicly stated he supports it. However, he has not commented on whether he will sign it if it lands on his desk.
In addition, the students at Middle- ton protested the Governor's proposal to give parents the power to sue their local schools over COVID-19 mandates. This could end up costing those districts a lot of money, including Hillsborough County, which implemented mask man- dates this school year.
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