The Florida state Senate on Wednesday voted 27-12 to approve the expansion to the state’s Parental Rights in Education law, which if signed into law by DeSantis would prohibit classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity through eighth grade. Under the expanded law, schools would also be prohibited from using students’ preferred pronouns. All 12 Democrats opposed it, The Orlando Sentinel reported.
State Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book (D) condemned the proposed expansion, arguing it “marginalizes children” and “insults the professionalism of educators.”
The Senate’s vote Wednesday comes as tensions between the DeSantis Administration and Walt Disney World, the state’s largest employer, sour over the so-called Don’t Say Gay law.
DeSantis has been trying to weaken Disney’s power through a special district overseeing the park after company executives condemned the Parental Rights in Education law and said its “goal as a company is for this law to be repealed” or struck down in court.
Read it at The Orlando Sentinel.
