Students and teachers can discuss sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms, provided it's not part of instruction, under a settlement reached between Florida education officials and civil rights attorneys who had challenged a state law critics dubbed "Don't Say Gay."The Associated PressMembers and supporters of the 2SLGBTQ+ community attend a 'Say Gay Anyway' rally in Miami Beach, Fla., in March 2022.
Under the terms of the settlement, the Florida Board of Education will send instructions to every school district saying the Florida law doesn't prohibit discussing 2SLGBTQ+ people, nor prevent anti-bullying rules on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or disallow gay-straight alliance groups.
In a statement, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's office described the deal as a "major win" with the law formally known as the Parental Rights in Education Act remaining intact."We fought hard to ensure this law couldn't be maligned in court, as it was in the public arena by the media and large corporate actors," said Ryan Newman, an attorney for the state of Florida.
The law also triggered the ongoing legal battles between DeSantis and Disney over control of the governing district for Walt Disney World in central Florida after DeSantis took control of the government in what the company described as retaliation for its opposition to the legislation. DeSantis touted the fight with Disney during his run for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, which he ended earlier this year.