Parental rights expansion advances through House committee

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Florida Lawmakers advanced a bill through committee that expands the Parental Rights in Education Act to PreK-8 and restricts preferred pronoun usage in schools.

Rep. Adam Anderson, R-Palm Harbor, introduced the legislation in the House Choice and Innovation Subcommittee. The bill passed with a vote of 14-4.

The bill extends the existing K-3 ban on instruction relating to sexual orientation and gender identity to also include PreK-8. Charter schools must also comply with this requirement.

In grades 9-12, the bill requires that instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity must be age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.

The bill also defines, for the purposes of the Early Learning-20 Education Code, “sex” as the binary division of individuals based upon reproductive function and reenacts a number of provisions in the education code to incorporate the definition of “sex” throughout.

Preferred pronoun restrictions

The bill prohibits employees, contractors, or students at a public K-12 school from being required to refer to another individual by a personal title or pronouns that do not align with the person’s sex.

“The bill protects school employees, contractors and students from being forced to use pronouns that do not correspond with an individual’s biological sex,” Anderson said.

The bill would prohibit any requirement that a student provide his or her preferred personal title or pronouns.

It also prohibits any penalty or adverse action against a student for not providing his or her preferred title or pronouns.

Public comment and debate

The bill sponsor said the bill protects parents rights, children and teachers. 

“It lets our teachers get back to the reason that they became teachers in the first place. It gets the education system back to the reason that we send our children to school in the first place and that’s to learn about math, science, history, and reading,” Anderson said in closing.

Many speakers spoke against the bill during public comment on Tuesday.

“I’m shocked by the lack of science, by the lack of knowledge, and I’m just shocked as a parent of a transgendered youth and I feel all these laws are out to arrive into my home – stay in my home – not cook me dinner – just simply educate my children for me. It also bullies teachers, and bullies media specialists,” said one parent.

Rep. Douglas Bankson, R-Apopka, who said he supports the bill, argued that the bill does not encourage or approve of bullying against anyone.

During Bankson’s comments, the chair interrupted to ask the public to avoid outbursts. 

“The point of this bill is to allow every parent to make that decision for their children, it’s not to single out or force. […] This is hard on everyone’s side. We really do need to focus on children. We may disagree on how best to do that. That’s why it needs to be done on the parental level,” Bankson said. 

Rep. Angela Nixon, D-Jacksonville, opposed the bill during debate.

“This bill is anti-freedom. It’s anti-liberty. It’s not about parental rights. It’s not about kids rights. It’s about scoring political points. It’s about power and control. So let’s remember that this bill is going to erode the quality of education,” Nixon said.

The bill now heads to the House Education & Employment Committee. 

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include the bill sponsor’s quotes and clarify pronoun restrictions.