Parker: These 5 Lines from the Florida Law Prove 'Don't Say Gay' Is a Massive Lie from the Left
The distorted rhetoric — should I say lies? — labeling Florida’s legislation regarding parental rights in public schools as the “Don’t Say Gay” law demonstrates the hypocrisy of LGBT activism.
I say hypocrisy because this movement has always claimed to be about freedom, rights and social justice.
But the reality is that LGBT activism is not at all about freedom and rights. It is about advancing a particular agenda at the expense of traditional ways of viewing the world.
The Florida law, which concerns itself at the outset with “parental rights in education,” has 163 lines, out of which a total of five address sex education.
Those few lines simply say that “classroom instruction … on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
That’s it. Anyone who wants to publicize this as the “Don’t Say Gay” law should also publicize it as the “Don’t Say Straight” law. Because that’s what it’s about — removing discussion of sexual orientation from classrooms of small children.
But for LGBT activists, anything that doesn’t actively promote their agenda is in opposition to it. Therefore, freedom — and the tolerance and neutrality that it requires — is by definition “anti-LGBT.”
As a Christian, my view is that denying the reality of sex and engaging in sexual activity outside the framework of traditional marriage are sinful and destructive behaviors.
But I realize, as do most Christian parents, that our biblical perspective is not going to show up in public schools. America is a diverse country with many points of view. I recognize that keeping public schools neutral regarding sex education is the only possible approach in a heterogeneous country.
When the state of Florida enacts legislation to keep discussion of sexual orientation out of kindergarten classrooms, I don’t see this as anti-LGBT, but pro-freedom.
The subheading of an opinion piece in USA Today reads, “Young people in Florida are being told their sexuality or gender identity is so wrong it can’t even be mentioned.”
No. Young people in Florida are being told that they live in a free, diverse country. So matters of sexuality should be handled by parents at home, and public schools should teach kids how to read and do math. It helps these young people to become responsible adults, respectful of others with different opinions.
A number of years ago, I mentioned in a TV interview that I had stayed in a hotel that was flying an LGBT rainbow flag. I said the rainbow flag offended me as a Christian woman as the Confederate flag offends me as a black woman.
My office in Washington was shut down by the tsunami of threatening calls that this comment evoked. I had to move out of my home because of threats.
I didn’t say these folks should not be allowed to live as they choose. I said, essentially, that as hotels have removed the Bibles that we used to find in rooms, they shouldn’t be replaced by the rainbow flag.
I think this is a big factor in why school choice is only promoted on the right. Those on the left are opposed because they know that school choice takes away their platform for promoting their social agenda in public schools.
Look at the websites of the two big teachers’ unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. Both actively promote the LGBT agenda.
The new Florida law was passed to deal with this problem. Public schools should educate children with the knowledge and skills to succeed in a free country. Other agendas should be left to parents at home.
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