Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Signed into Law

A bill recently signed into law by Florida republican Governor Ron DeSantis, titled “Parental Rights in Education,” seeks to ban instruction based around gender and sexuality for younger students. 

Critics have dubbed the bill “Don’t Say Gay,” as republican lawmakers in the state have aimed to stop any and all instruction on topics of gender identity and sexual orientation. 

Another bill recently passed in the Sunshine State would prohibit instruction that alludes to certain sexes or races having more inherent privilege than oppressed minorities. While this bill does not specifically cite critical race theory, the graduate-level law class would be banned under the law. 

The “Don’t Say Gay” bill has met much opposition by both politicians and students from Florida’s public schools. More than 500 students from Winter Park High School in Orange County, Florida staged a walkout in protest of the bill. 

The walkout was organized by juniors Will Larkins and Maddi Zornek. During the walkout, students were chanting, “We say gay!” and holding “protect trans kids” signs.

“It is certainly something that is not helping, you know, young people who are members of the LGBTQI+ community who are already vulnerable, already being bullied,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says when asked about the Florida legislation in February.

While backers of the Parental Rights in Education bill have argued that the more popularly adopted nomenclature is misleading, the bill does effectively prohibit the discussion of sexual orientation. 

Here’s what the pertinent portion of the bill says:

“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.”

The vague language within the bill leaves what is “age-appropriate” up to interpretation. The threat of lawsuits against school boards could easily keep teachers censored from discussing a wide variety of topics. 

DeSantis’ spokesperson, Christina Pushaw, has made several tweets claiming that the true purpose of the bill is to protect children from “groomers,” a term for pedophiles who gradually initiate sexual relationships with children through establishing trust with the child and sometimes even the child’s family. 

“If you’re against the Anti-Grooming Bill, you are probably a groomer or at least you don’t denounce the grooming of 4-to-8-year-old children. Silence is complicity. This is how it works, democrats, and I didn’t make the rules,” the tweet reads. 

The argument for suppressing gay rights in favor of protecting children from pedophiles is a long overused, yet tried-and-true method of the republican party. This line of thinking has been used to block everything from same-gender marriage to trans people using bathrooms. 

As public opinion of LGBTQ topics begins to shift, and more protections are granted to the community on both state and national level, republican lawmakers have scrambled to capitalize on parents’ fears. 

“There’s a fantasy going on that children are being indoctrinated,” UC Berkeley philosopher and gender theorist Judith Butler tells CNN. “Parents and communities want to exercise forms of censorship to stop their children from knowing about how the world is being organized and how different people are living their lives.”

Including Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, there have been over 150 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced at the state level in the current legislative session thus far.

NY Amazon Workers Make History with Grassroots Union

Christian Smalls, a former Staten Island Amazon employee, was fired two years ago for participating in a walkout in protest of the company’s pandemic response. Since then, Smalls has started a grassroots labor organization called the Amazon Labor Union (ALU). 

Executives at the tech giant initially attempted to undercut the ALU’s organizing efforts by painting Smalls as “not smart or articulate,” according to leaked PR meeting notes. Spokesperson Kelly Nantel attempted to dismiss the authenticity of a growing number of signatures in favor of the New York Union. 

However, on April 1, 2022, employees of the Staten Island, New York Amazon facility voted overwhelmingly in favor of unionizing. The vote marks the first time a group of U.S. workers have successfully moved to form a union in Amazon’s 27-year history. 

While some Amazon employees in Europe have managed to unionize, the company was able to fend off unions in the U.S., up until recently. A push to unionize an Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama gained national attention. 

The results of the election at Bessemer one year ago favored Amazon but were scrapped after a National Labor Relations Board regional director determined Amazon had illegally interfered, a decision the company called “disappointing.” A do-over election currently remains too close to call.

In 2015, a group of Amazon employees made an effort to unionize a facility in Virginia, which was withdrawn after reaching an election agreement. Another effort in Delaware just a year prior also resulted in workers turning down the option to unionize. 

The victory in New York is striking for a number of reasons, including that the ALU is unaligned with an existing labor union. The grassroots approach may very well have ripple effects throughout the company where other union efforts remain underway. 

Beyond Amazon itself, the unionization of one New York facility could have the power to supercharge the broader labor movement across the country, labor experts conjecture. Amazon is widely viewed as setting the standard for what the future of the American workforce looks like. 

“Amazon workers around the country will now have a belief that it’s possible to organize and win an election—but it will still be difficult,” says Rebecca Givan, a labor law professor at Rutgers University. “The odds are always, always stacked against workers organizing in a situation like this, but this is proof that it can be done and it will likely inspire workers elsewhere.