LGBTQ

The proposed rule could be used “to censor viewpoints in support of LGBTQ+ youth and families,” Kara Gross, legislative director for the ACLU of Florida, said in a statement condemning the plan.

Teachers and administrators, already facing long hours and low pay, now find themselves under pressure from politicians, parents and even their own school districts.

Students, parents, and teachers have filed a revised lawsuit seeking to block a new Florida law that restricts classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation.

If the bill were to become law, it could affect not only schools but also programs, events and literature at any federally funded institution. But its prospects are dim for now.

Some characterized it as a way to provide transparency and others say it is potentially harmful to LGBTQ students.

Some LGBTQ+ advocates say they are having to take matters into their own hands in the absence of a coordinated response from state governments.

Wrote the plaintiffs: “Throughout Florida, schools are taking extraordinary measures to purge any trace of LGBT people from schools, and teachers are afraid to show any support for LGBT students.”

On this week's Florida Roundup, we discuss the abortion privacy clause that's been in the state Constitution since 1989, and how Gov. DeSantis' steady stream of policies in his first term that have affected Florida’s LGBTQ+ community.

The Miami-Dade County School Board voted against a proposal to designate October as LGBTQ History Month. The largely symbolic measure drew fierce public outcry from parents who argued it violated a new state law championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

One plaintiff said the state's Medicaid program pre-approved him in August for a chest surgery scheduled for later this year. Then the state enacted a new rule excluding such treatments from the plan.

Lawyers in Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office say the Legislature has discretion to make choices about school curriculums.

The motion contends that the law “was enacted with the purpose to discriminate and has the effect of discriminating against LGBTQ+ students and those with LGBTQ+ family members.”