House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wasted no time on Monday in condemning Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, lashing out within minutes of it being signed to complain about something that wasn’t even in the law.
“This cruel legislation is an affront to our Nation’s cherished values and sends a harmful message to our children. @GovRonDeSantis and Florida Republicans have chosen to needlessly bully, isolate and demean LGBTQ students,” Pelosi claimed in a tweet.
“I am deeply moved by the thousands of students who have spoken up and walked out to protest this bigoted legislation,” Pelosi continued in a second tweet. “@HouseDemocrats proudly stand with them, and we will continue fighting to enact long overdue protections for LGBTQ Americans – starting with the #EqualityAct.”
I am deeply moved by the thousands of students who have spoken up and walked out to protest this bigoted legislation.@HouseDemocrats proudly stand with them, and we will continue fighting to enact long overdue protections for LGBTQ Americans – starting with the #EqualityAct.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) March 28, 2022
The law, which has been falsely labeled “Don’t Say Gay” by opponents, focuses on giving parents more access and control over what schools are teaching their children. It bans classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation for children up to the third grade — where most students are under the age of nine.
It does not allow students who identify as LGBTQ+ to be attacked or bullied, nor does it prevent them from talking about their identities or orientations. The word “gay” doesn’t even appear in the law.
Other critics came out to attack the law immediately after it was signed on Monday as well. Disney announced that the company would work to get it overturned as soon as possible.
As The Daily Wire reported:
The Walt Disney Company reacted Monday to news that Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had signed a bill banning sexual orientation or gender identity discussions for young kids, saying the bill should “never have passed.”
“Florida’s HB 1557, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed into law. Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that,” a Disney spokesman told The Daily Wire.
“We are dedicated to standing up for the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ members of the Disney family, as well as the LGBTQ+ community in Florida and across the country.”
Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) made it clear that he was undeterred and would not hesitate to fight back against the law’s opponents, saying, “Someone told me that there’s even people in Hollywood that are opposed to providing protections for parents and enforcing parents rights. The one thing I’ll say about that is, if the people who held up degenerates like Harvey Weinstein as exemplars and as heroes and all that, if those are the types of people opposing us on parents rights, I wear that like a badge of honor.”