Now that Florida has expanded its Parental Rights in Education law, the critics are out in full force to condemn what they claim is the "Don't Say Gay" law, despite how that has no basis in reality, going off the bill's own text. Unfortunately, such inaccurate criticisms come from those with the largest of platforms, including White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
During Thursday's press briefing, Jean-Pierre, in her remarks before taking questions, spoke about the law, refusing to call it by its actual name, but rather referring to it as "the state’s dystopian 'Don’t Say Gay' law." The law was not referred to its correct title later during the press conference either.
A particularly ridiculous claim that the press secretary made was to lament that "under threat of having their licenses revoked, gay teachers have been forced to take down pictures of their spouses from their desks and censor their classroom materials."
KJP claims that it's illegal for gay teachers in Florida to have pictures of their spouses on their desks. pic.twitter.com/lzRN0o7d38
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 20, 2023
Jean-Pierre's claim was slapped with community notes. In a note currently rated as "helpful" since it "Directly addresses the Tweet’s claim" and is "Easy to understand," a link to local news outlet WTSP from last June is provided. One doesn't even need to read past the headline, "No, Florida teachers are not being told to take down photos of same-sex spouses" to see that Jean-Pierre is wrong.
Another L for the White House press secretary pic.twitter.com/nP3hw2kCfq
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) April 21, 2023
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Not only does the explainer note how such claims, based on a viral meme and concerns raised at school board meetings are not true, it cites district spokespersons, as well as a motion to a lawsuit where the state was ultimately successful:
The clarification, provided to VERIFY by a district spokesperson, says claims that teachers with same sex partners may not display their photos is not accurate.
"All teachers are encouraged to keep pictures of their families in the classroom,” according to the clarification provided to the union. “However, in K-3, it was cautioned against specific discussions in the event those discussions could be deemed classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity.”
...
In a motion just filed by the state to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Equality Florida, the state provided its most extensive guidance yet on the new law.
“There is no merit,” the motion reads, “to the suggestion that the statute restricts gay and transgender teachers from ‘put[ting] a family photo on their desk’ or ‘refer[ring] to themselves and their spouse (and their own children).’”
Those actions, according to the state, are not considered “instruction.”
Teachers are also free to “'respond if students discuss . . . their identities or family life,'” the motion reads, "and answer 'questions about their families.'"
Unfortunately, as our friends at Twitchy highlighted, Joe Concha has pointed out that these lies are a regular occurrence from the press secretary.
This simply is untrue and intentionally so. Jean-Pierre does this on a daily basis.
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) April 21, 2023
To that end, you'll never guess how many times the White House Press Secretary has been fact-checked this year: Zero. Point. Zero.https://t.co/ZgDqtjyI8F https://t.co/JMOxN3zxh0
Such a lawsuit, which had been brought by Equality Florida, was dismissed last October. Equality Florida is the same group that earlier this month issued a "travel advisory" to Florida warning people not to come, though the state has seen a population influx.
"Censoring our classes is not how public education is supposed to work in a free country," Jean-Pierre continued with her nearly laughable diatribe. "Conservative politicians love to complain about the so-called 'cancel culture,' all while threatening teachers with losing their jobs if they teach something that the MAGA extremists don’t agree with."
In reality, teachers are not supposed to teach topics that are not age-appropriate, and certainly don't belong in the classroom. This is especially when it comes to pushing the LGBT agenda on impressionable school children, which has nothing to do with providing them with an education.
Towards the end of her rant about the law's expansion, Jean-Pierre shared that "President Biden believes teachers and students should not be pawns in a political game or a political stunt. We will continue to fight for students across the country to receive a world-class education, including free from discrimination and also censorship."
DeSantis' team has already responded to pushback from the Biden administration on DeSantis' education successes. Last month the DeSantis War Room posted a video clip highlighting the governor's accomplishments on the issue.
Florida has the blueprint for opportunity for our children.@JoeBiden should use it. 👀👇 pic.twitter.com/fxqRxXXD8U
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) March 28, 2023
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