Tag Archives: DOn’t Say Gay

The Alabama Reflector reports: An Alabama Senate committee Wednesday approved an expansion of the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. HB 244, sponsored by Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, prohibits discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation during instructional time in public schools. The law currently prohibits such discussions in K-5, but Butler’s bill expands it to pre-K-12 to be in …

The Washington Post reports: The Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared poised to side with a group of religious parents seeking to pull their children from public school lessons with LGBTQ+-themed books — a significant expansion of the long-standing practice of allowing opt outs for reproductive health classes. The lawsuit over story time and books with titles such as “Uncle Bobby’s …

Vox reports: The Supreme Court will hear a case that could impose a regime similar to Florida’s original Don’t Say Gay law on every public school in the country. The plaintiffs in Mahmoud v. Taylor — a group of Muslim and Christian parents — don’t specifically ask the justices to ban discussions of homosexuality or gender identity from classrooms. Instead, …

The Alabama Reflector reports: An Alabama House committee approved legislation to expand the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law throughout K-12 public schools on Wednesday. HB 244, sponsored by Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, would prohibit public school teachers at all grade levels from teaching or discussing gender identity or sexuality. The legislation also prohibits the display of pride flags and …

The Alabama Reflector reports: A House representative is bringing back an attempt to expand Alabama’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, which critics say infringe on teachers’ and students’ free speech. HB 244, sponsored by Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, would prohibit public school teachers at all grade levels from teaching or discussing gender identity or sexuality. The law currently bans such …

Orlando’s CBS affiliate reports: Members of the former Reedy Creek Improvement District board of supervisors broke no criminal laws prior to Gov. Ron DeSantis appointing a new board to oversee Walt Disney World’s special taxing district, newly-released government records reveal. At the time, DeSantis expressed concern about a last-minute development agreement and restrictive covenants between Disney and the former RCID …

Cleveland’s ABC affiliate reports: Advocates condemned Ohio lawmakers for passing another anti-LGBTQ bill as the General Assembly wrapped up, urging Gov. Mike DeWine to veto the legislation, though DeWine has indicated he will sign it. The Ohio Senate passed House Bill 8 and the Ohio House concurred with changes made to the bill, sending it to DeWine’s desk. He will …

Reuters reports: A retired teacher was sentenced on Wednesday to five years in prison for threatening in obscenity-filled voicemails to harm a federal judge in Florida who had rejected a challenge to the state’s so-called “don’t say gay” law restricting classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity. U.S. District Judge William Jung in Tampa sentenced Stephen Thorn, 66, to …

ABC News reports: Iowa can enforce a book ban this school year following a Friday ruling by a federal appeals court. The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a district judge’s earlier decision that temporarily halted key parts of the law. The law, which the Republican-led Legislature and GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds approved in 2023, also forbids teachers from …

The Alabama Reflector reports: A bill that would have expanded Alabama’s “Don’t Say Gay” law died on the final day of the 2024 regular session. HB 130, sponsored by Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, would have extended Alabama’s prohibition on discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten to fifth grade to kindergarten to eighth grade. It also would …

AL.com reports: The Alabama House of Representatives has passed a bill to expand a ban on teachers providing instruction or classroom discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools. HB130 by Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, would expand the ban that now applies from kindergarten through fifth grade to apply through 8th grade. The ban was first passed …

The Louisiana Illuminator reports: The Louisiana House Committee on Education advanced House Bill 121 by Rep. Raymond Crews, R-Bossier City, which prohibits the use of transgender and nonbinary youth’s chosen names and pronouns in public K-12 schools without parental permission, along a party line 9-3 vote. House Bill 122 by Rep. Dodie Horton, R-Haugton, which limits discussion of gender and …

The Associated Press reports: Teacher-led discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity would be banned in public schools and displaying Pride flags in classrooms would be prohibited under legislation lawmakers advanced in Alabama on Wednesday. The measure is part of a wave of laws across the country that critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.” It would expand current Alabama law, …

The Alabama Political Reporter reports: State Rep. Mack Butler, Gadsden, said he has only heard secondhand rumors about the recent uproar over a transgender Space Camp counselor at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. But he’s heard enough that he plans to expand HB130, a bill prohibiting the instruction or discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools, …

The Associated Press reports: Students and teachers will be able to speak freely about sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms, provided it’s not part of instruction, under a settlement reached Monday between Florida education officials and civil rights attorneys who had challenged a state law which critics dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.” Under the terms of the settlement, the …

The Georgia Recorder reports: A controversial bill dubbed Georgia’s version of “Don’t Say Gay” moved forward in a Senate committee Tuesday after three years of work and multiple failures to move, largely over Republican opposition to the inclusion of private schools. The bill passed committee on a 6-3 party line vote during a committee meeting in which proponents were given …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked key parts of an Iowa law that bans some books from school libraries and forbids teachers from raising LGBTQ+ issues. Judge Stephen Locher’s preliminary injunction halts enforcement of the law, which was set to take effect Jan. 1 but already had resulted in the removal of hundreds of books …

The Florida Observer reports: A resolution to request the resignation of Sarasota County School Board member Bridget Ziegler is featured on an agenda for the school board meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Widely anticipated to be among the most attended school board meetings in the district, the meeting follows an accusation of sexual assault against Ziegler’s husband, Christian Ziegler, who …

The Hill reports: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Iowa and Lambda Legal on Tuesday sued to block a sweeping Iowa education law that restricts talk of LGBTQ identities in state schools, arguing in a federal lawsuit that the measure violates the constitutional rights of LGBTQ students. The law, which took effect July 1, requires books with descriptions or …

Click Orlando reports: A former Florida state representative was sentenced to four months in federal prison Thursday after he pleaded guilty to fraudulently collecting about $150,000 in COVID-19 relief funds intended to help small businesses. Joseph Harding, who once represented Florida’s 22nd District – which includes parts of Marion County, resigned from the Florida House of Representatives in December after …