Leftist Protestors Again Storm Florida Capitol

March 4, 2021 Updated 9:15 A.M. ET

TALLAHASSEE (FCV) – Early Thursday afternoon, a crowd of over 100 left wing and mostly student activists abandoned their classes to voice their opposition to House Bill 1557 (HB 1557) by chanting and yelling expletives outside of the senate and house chambers. 

Critics and politicians on the left have falsely dubbed HB 1557 as the anti-LGBTQ, “Don’t Say Gay Bill,” heightening the tensions of an already polarized electorate. In reality, this narrative is false and does not accurately represent the bill’s contents. 

The bill on the official Florida website says that it is “A bill to be entitled An act relating to parental rights in education.” The vast majority of its text actually serves to empower parents, cut procedural red tape, and give guardians more of a say on how their child’s typical school day should occur. 

There is a small section of HB 1557 that does pertain to the instruction of sexual orientation and identity, but no provisions include the word “Gay,” let alone “Don’t Say Gay,” as it has been labeled by leftists. It simply restricts gender identity and orientation instruction in the classroom from kindergarten to third grade.

Specifically, paragraph three of section one, subsection 8 reads, “Classroom instruction by school personnel… on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3.”

Ironically the bill has no effect on those students that opted to protest rather than attend class. 

The group of left wing student protesters were joined and supported by several Democrat members of the state legislature. Among the lawmakers supporting the protesting students was State Senator and Democrat Gubernatorial candidate Annette Taddeo.

Senator Taddeo released a series of tweets accusing the governor of, “trying to muzzle our children’s voices.” She also claimed, “the lives of our LGBTQ+ youth are on the line.” Similar unfounded statements were made by many state Democrats.