A Florida school district is responding to the state’s highly-publicized “Parental Rights in Education Act,” dubbed by the mainstream media as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, by introducing a policy for transgender students who want to be identified by their school teachers and faculty.
According to Fort Myers-based outlet NBC2, “transgender” students at the Lee County School District will be required to fill out a “Gender Support Plan” to give to the school.
A parent, Crystal Czyscon, told NBC2 that the document asks students if they have a support system at home and for a plan if the student is “outed” for being trans. She called the document “discriminatory” an “frieghtning.”
Sharon McGill, who sat on the school district’s “equity committee,” said that the forms were created to “protect children and teachers.” She said that students who want to be acknowledged as trans by their teachers will need to fill out the forms.
Another school district employee added that “we have to involve parents” if students use “preferred pronouns” with their friends.
“If they choose not to have accommodations they can certainly use their pronouns with friends at school but now if they want to we have to involve parents,” explained Jessica Duncan who is employed by the Lee School District.
The “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which doesn’t say “gay” at all, states that “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
H.B. 1557 took effect on July 1. It requires parental involvement "in critical decisions affecting student's mental, emotional, or physical well-being" at school and "requires school districts to notify parents of healthcare services" among other things, involving their children.