Adding on to what Lights said, this has real impact on teachers. In Florida what's colloquially known as the "Don't Say Gay Bill" actually
can make teachers lose their license to teach.
Quote:
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How in the world are teachers supposed to navigate this? The answer is, in constant fear of getting fired for failing to discriminate as much as the Florida government wants. For the first time in my nine-year career as a public school teacher, I’m seriously thinking about quitting. And I am not alone: hundreds of thousands of Florida students started school last year without a permanent teacher while the state has struggled to fill thousands of openings.
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Here's a
Florida teacher that got fired shortly after she put up artwork from her students that related to pride flags.
This is effectively a way of violating the first amendment without explicitly saying it. You'll hear justifications like "protecting the innocence of children" or "not indoctrinating our youth" or "not following the state mandated curriculum".
However, these policies are making these topics to be impossible for teachers to discuss without risk of losing their jobs.
Say boys like girls, girls like boys, that's good. But some boys like boys, or some girls like girls, and explain the term straight, bisexual, and gay? Say goodbye to your teaching license.
And with pronouns, well... that's forcing the school to adopt "there are only two genders" and "trans people don't exist/are mentally ill".
Even if someone claims this is unconstitutional, the court system in the U.S. is very slow. So even if a bill is deemed unconstitutional, it can still remain in place for years.
All this does is create an atmosphere of fear and shame for teacher and students. Being someone that myself works in the education industry, this is entirely backwards and stifles free speech.