COMMUNITY

FLORIDA HB-1557 How It Impacts LGBTQ Families

By: Thomas Ryan-Lawrence

Earlier this week, news outlets across the country reported on the advancement of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ controversial “Parental Rights in Education Bill”, also known as HB 1557. The bill was passed by the statehouse’s GOP-controlled Education and Employment Committee on January 20 by a vote of 15-5. While the bill’s sponsors claim the legislation aims to “provide parents with greater oversight over what their students learn and discuss at school”, the passage of this bill would be detrimental to LGBTQ students and LGBTQ families across the State.

The Trevor Project is quoted stating the bill would “ban classroom discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools, erasing LGBTQ identity, history and culture – as well as LGBTQ students themselves.” Now, there is some debate on exactly when sexual orientation begins to be recognized in children. Personally, I knew at age five I was attracted to men and not women. I didn’t know what it meant at that time, but I knew one thing for sure: I was different.

Policy makers across the country are discussing the variety of social issues that should or should not be approached in public education and exactly how deep parental rights should go in contributing to that decision. I find it interesting that parents are, for the most part, not involved in the selection of other curriculum in public schools, yet somehow feel entitled to have their voices heard when it comes to topics such as Critical Race Theory, sexual orientation and gender identity.

Republican state Representative Joe Harding recently told CNN that this law would apply to students in kindergarten through third grade. Claiming, “At that age they need to be worried about reading …and about their math,” he said. “For me, it’s why are we sensationalizing this age to have all these questions and to force so many questions…We’re talking specifically about young, elementary-age children that just don’t need that stress in general.”

Having worked with the LGBTQ community with a focus on inclusive environments for 18 years and being a gay dad, I posted about the advancement of HB 1557 on both the Gayborhood Business Alliance and ARK Leadership LinkedIn pages, organizations for which I am a managing partner. A colleague that I met while speaking at a symposium on Culture Building Basics for the Studer Community Institute in Pensacola, FL messaged me on LinkedIn after seeing my post. My topic at the symposium was “Belonging – The Gateway to Innovation and Inclusivity.”

In her message, she said: “Saw your post about the LGBTQ measure…we often find ourselves planning to move out of FL. Anyway, the article says it’s aimed at kids K-3. I don’t disagree with you…but I don’t know much about this. I plan to read up on when kids start needing to talk about this. I don’t think I started paying attention to boys until around fifth grade.”

When writing my response to her it inspired me to write this piece. This bill is not just about how students identify with their own sexual orientation, but also for those students living in LGBTQ households. This would be quite impactful because it is estimated that 48% of LGBTQ women and 20% of LGBTQ men under the age of 50 in the United States are raising children under the age of 18.

This bill doesn’t just affect LGBTQ youth. Don’t get me wrong, the possibility is high that it will, some at that age will identify as LGBTQ. It is well documented by The Trevor Project that LGBTQ youth who learned about LGBTQ issues or people in classes at school had a 23% lower odds of reporting a suicide attempt in the last year. But, again, as state Representative Joe Harding said, “For me, it’s why are we sensationalizing this age to have all these questions and to force so many questions.” The simple answer: Because when these kids get into the real world, the fact that LGBTQ people exist and will be alongside them is very true.

The entire point of me writing this piece is around the last statement and the question from my colleague. You see, my husband and I have an 8-year old son. He’s precious, sweet, and innocent. I’d like to think he’s that way in part because of how we’ve raised him. So, when my colleague asked what is an appropriate age to start the conversation about sexual orientation and gender identify, my response was “as early as possible.”

As same-sex parents, we have always strived to teach our son that families come in all shapes and sizes. Some may have two daddies or two mommies. Some may have a dad and a mom. Some may have an auntie or grandparents. And, some may be single-parent households. Love is all that matters.

While important, for the sake of this argument, take the LGBTQ students out of the mix. After all, we’re talking about K-3. What about the kids that are a part of a LGBTQ family? Sexual orientation and gender identity transcends physical attraction; there are mental and emotional aspects that are difficult to explain. For our son, he’s always grown up knowing he has Daddy, Papa, and Mama Tara. That’s the way it’s always been and the way it will always be and we started these conversations when he was literally a week old.

Should this law pass, what happens when he goes to school and tries to explain to his friends that he has two dads? For the record, he just turned eight-years old and is in second grade so yes…this law would affect our family. Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging are often ignored in our public school system. I can say this as a current board member in my sixth year of service with a Charter School in the Atlanta Public School District. I am proud to say our school has made DEI a primary focus as part of its culture. At the same time, I am saddened to say the majority of the school districts I have seen do not take the same approach.

So, I will close with this: My son’s name is Noah and he is eight years old. As I mentioned before he is a precious, sweet, innocent soul that has a heart the size of Texas. What is he to do in second grade when talking about his two dads if we lived in Florida and this bill becomes law? Are the teachers going to unilaterally ignore his family unit? He surely would be made to feel “less than” or “different” for having two loving parents at home just because we aren’t a cisgendered opposite sex couple. How will a child that isn’t LGBTQ, but is a part of a LGBTQ family be treated if this law were to pass? How will they view their family in relation to others? If we cannot guarantee that experience will be positive, should it even occur?

If you live in Florida and agree that there are a multitude of reasons why HB 1557 should not pass into law, please reach out to your representative and express your opposition. Feel free to quote this article and please help spread the word. A copy of this article has been sent to the Speaker of the House, The Honorable Chris Sprowles.

One of the worst possible outcomes is not only HB 1557 passing in Florida, but then being used as a justification for similar laws in other states. So many families are counting on us to stand up and have our voices heard.

Thomas Ryan-Lawrence, SPHR

Thomas Ryan-Lawrence is an entrepreneur living in Atlanta, GA with his husband and eight-year old son. He has worked in the LGBTQ community for nearly two decades and currently serves as the President of the Gayborhood Business Alliance and VP, Operations for ARK Leadership.