The Miami-Dade School Board in Florida this week decided not to support a proposal designating October 2022 as LGBTQ History Month.
The plan was discussed in public by the school board, which is in charge of a district with nearly 330,000 residents. In the end, the board decided against it 8-1 because it perhaps violated Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Bill.
Board member Lucia Baez-Geller, who wrote that “LGBTQ individuals have made and continue to make lasting contributions to strengthen the fabric of American society,” was the one who pushed for the motion.
On Wednesday, Baez-Geller asserted that nasty falsehoods and outright misinformation were to blame for the symbolic act’s failure.
The Parental Rights in Education Act of Florida, H.B. 1557, became operative on July 1. It mandates that parents participate in important decisions that have an impact on a student’s mental, emotional, or physical health at school and that school districts notify parents about healthcare services involving their kids, among other things.
Additionally, the law stipulates that kindergarten through grade 3 classroom education on sexual orientation or gender identity by school staff or outside parties is prohibited, as is classroom instruction that is not age- or developmentally-appropriate for pupils in accordance with state standards.
The chair of the school board, Perla Tabares Hantman, stated that they must adhere to the law.
Board member Lubby Navarro dissented from the motion and stated, “Our customers are our parents. We have to be driven to give parents what they are asking us, this school system, for their children.”
