On Monday morning, former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), a 2020 Democratic presidential primary candidate, dared to contradict Democratic leadership on radical gender ideology by opining that the Florida Parental Rights in Education law does not go far enough in protecting children from radical gender theory and instruction on sexual orientation without parental knowledge.
Instead, she argued, schools should be putting their energy toward giving the kids a good education in the fundamentals like reading, writing, and arithmetic, among other disciplines. But that opinion runs in stark contrast to other members of her party, many of whom have blasted Florida’s law as hateful and transphobic, among other things.
“When I first heard about Florida’s Parental Rights bill, I was shocked it only protects children K-3. Third grade? How about 12th grade—or not at all,” Gabbard tweeted alongside a video explaining her stance in more detail.
Gabbard noted in the video that Americans across have seen that “parental rights are under attack all across the country as the government tries to usurp parents’ rights and responsibility to raise their own children.”
“Now, we should all support the Parental Rights in Education bill that recently passed in Florida, which very simply bans government and government schools from indoctrinating woke sexual values in our schools to a captive audience, a captive audience that is by law required to attend,” she continued before saying that it should protect all grades.
“Now, government has no place in our personal lives. Government has no place in our bedrooms,” Gabbard declared. “Parents are the ones responsible for raising their kids and instilling in them a moral foundation, not the government.”
The Democrat then stated that government-run schools should be focusing on the basics of education and equipping students with the ability to think critically and for themselves while noting that schools are “failing.”
“Nationally, 34% of students are below basic reading level in the fourth grade, 25% of high school graduates are functionally illiterate,” she explained.
To address that situation, she argued that America would see “literacy rates improve and set our young people up for success” if kids were taught “the fundamentals — things like English, math, science, civics, history.”
“They’ll be thinking logically, thinking critically, and thinking for themselves,” she added. “This is what our public schools should focus on.”
But that is not what President Joe Biden had to say about the law.
On the day that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed the law, Biden tweeted, “Every student deserves to feel safe and welcome in the classroom.” That statement isn’t controversial, but in Biden’s mind that implies that “LGBTQI+ youth deserve to be affirmed and accepted just as they are.”
“My Administration will continue to fight for dignity and opportunity for every student and family — in Florida and around the country,” he added.
On Thursday, it became clear that “affirmed and accepted” potentially means providing puberty blockers and other surgeries to assist in sex changes for minors who believe they should be the opposite sex.
The Daily Wire reported that the White House shared literature from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health arguing that “Gender-affirming care is a supportive form of healthcare. It consists of an array of services that may include medical, surgical, mental health, and non-medical services for transgender and nonbinary people.”
Under that framework, it is reasonable to assume that Biden and other Democrats would likely support a teacher being legally allowed to instruct a Floridian minor on how to change their gender while providing resources for “supportive” healthcare — all without informing the parents — if it meant the student felt “affirmed and accepted.” Florida’s Parental Rights In Education law prevents that from happening and provides legal recourse for parents who suspect teachers may have violated the law.
Even if Gabbard differs from Democratic leadership on the law, recent polls indicate that the majority of Americans — including Democratic voters — support the law. A Daily Wire exclusive poll recently showed that 64% of all Americans “support the Florida bill’s ban on classroom instructions on sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3, or at any level if it is not presented in a manner that is age or developmentally appropriate.”
While it is obvious that the Democratic Party will not agree with Gabbard’s stance on the matter anytime soon, the question now is whether or not Republican leadership agrees with Gabbard’s stance as well.
To that extent, at least one conservative concurs with Gabbard. Former Trump advisor, Steve Cortes, tweeted, “[Tulsi Gabbard] is right. The FL law is a great start, but it’s very basic and a lot more work lies ahead to protect children from the indoctrination and deviancy of the Left.”
.@TulsiGabbard is right. The FL law is a great start, but it's very basic and a lot more work lies ahead to protect children from the indoctrination and deviancy of the Left. https://t.co/rRt0rGan69
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) April 4, 2022
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.