LGBT rights

Leon’s School Board has approved a new LGBTQ guide after more than four hours of public comment.

Governor Ron DeSantis has set the clock going to sunset Disney's self-governing district, called Reedy Creek. The district has been in place since the 1970s, but DeSantis called on lawmakers to revoke it, after the company criticized the so-called Don't Say Gay law. Lawmakers approved the sunset provisions this week, but in a series of controversial moves that may have skirted the state's open government laws.

Florida lawmakers have cleared the way to punish the Walt Disney Corporation for its opposition to a new state law that limits school instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation. The proposals strip Disney of its ability to collect taxes and issue bonds, and eliminate a social media carveout for theme parks.

Many educators pride themselves on creating a safe space for LGBTQ students at school. But the new Parental Rights in Education law is making some teachers question whether to stay in the classroom.

LGBTQ students, parents and teachers say they’re already feeling the chill from legislation they call the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and civil rights groups filed a lawsuit against the new law this week.

Leon County Schools has found itself at the center of several key pieces of legislation aimed at curbing school powers. Among the biggest: a new law that prevents schools from making decisions regarding a student’s health and wellbeing without consulting with parents. This is how a local fight between the school district and a parent, resulted in what opponents are calling the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

Governor Ron Desantis signed legislation Monday that bans the teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation in grades K-through-3 at an elementary school outside Tampa. It requires that instruction in other grade levels be “age-appropriate.” DeSantis says the law, dubbed by critics as the "Don’t Say Gay" bill, protects parental rights.

Ambiguity in the bill's language has transgender youth and therapists worried. They say it could lead to further restrictions.

Leon County Superintendent Rocky Hanna recently apologized--kind of--after calling a bill that bans teaching gender identity and sexual orientation to children in lower primary grades the “Don’t Say Gay" bill which Republicans argue is a mischaracterization.

A bill banning the instruction of gender identity and sexual orientation grades K-through-3 and mandating that parents have access to all school records is now going to the governor’s desk, and critics of the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” are poised to sue once it gets signed.