Maybe you can say "Gay" in Florida again.
But can you say "slavery"?
So much damage has been done to Florida’s public schools and other public institutions that even if Governor Ron DeSantis and his minions were to disappear tomorrow it will still take decades for the state to recover.
And it doesn’t appear as if he is going anywhere.
It does appear that maybe one of the key parts of the DeSantis education agenda has been hobbled.
A legal settlement over Florida’s “don’t say gay” statute announced Monday may allow teachers and students to discuss LGBTQ+ issues and have access to related library books again.
The settlement largely cancelled many of the components of the signature legislation from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The settlement reached Monday is being praised by rights groups who said it marked a major victory for LGBTQ+ students, teachers and families who were effectively barred from speaking about their own personal lives or loved ones in same-sex relationships.
I hope so.
“Florida has already endured nearly two years of book banning, educators leaving the profession, and safe space stickers being ripped off of classroom windows in the wake of this law cynically targeting the LGBTQ+ community,” Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith said in a statement. “This settlement is a giant step toward repairing the immense damage these laws and the dangerous political rhetoric has inflicted on our families, our schools, and our state.”
Well, maybe.
Teaching about gender equality must be intentional. It’s not enough just to say teachers can teach it.
And even without an explicit law forbidding teachers from teaching, the atmosphere in Florida remains toxic on matters of sexuality and race.
The settlement does nothing to undo a DeSantis law that bars the teaching of American slavery and the history of enslaved people if it makes white people uncomfortable.
That’s still Florida law.