Majority of ‘queer parents’ consider leaving Florida due to parental rights law: survey

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – According to a survey of 113 “queer parents,” a majority were considering leaving Florida because of the Parental Rights in Education Act, which some falsely described as the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

It was conducted by Clark University and the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.

According to the results, 56% of the respondents considered moving as a result of the law, and 17% already took steps to leave the Sunshine State.

“88% of LGBTQ+ parents were concerned about the impact of the Don’t Say Gay bill,” the report said.

“LGBTQ+ parents voiced a variety of concerns about how Don’t Say Gay would affect their children, including restricting them from speaking freely about their families, negatively impacting their sense of legitimacy, and encouraging a hostile school climate that would negatively impact their children.”

HB 1557 was passed by the Florida Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in March 2022. It restricts classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in grades K-3.

The study found that the parents with younger children were less concerned about the law.

Additionally, 11% reportedly considered not moving out of state, but rather moving their children to private schools – locations not covered by the presently applied parental rights law.

A new bill would expand that range to PreK-8, but a rule proposed by DeSantis’ Department of Education would enforce those guidelines for all grades.

The Florida Board of Education would need to approve the rule. A hearing for the rule is scheduled for April 19.

Read the full report here.