MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA — On Wednesday, the Miami-Dade school board overwhelmingly voted against recognizing the month of October as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer History month, including a measure to teach 12th graders about two Supreme Court cases affecting the LGBTQ community, WFLA reported.
The vote was preceded by a debate where students, parents and teachers voiced their opinions on the matter. The school board then voted 8 to 1 to reject making October LGBTQ+ month. One school board member, Lubby Navarro, stated: “Our customers are our parents, and we have to be driven to give parents what they are asking us, this school system, for their children.”
DUVAL REMOVED SIGNAGE
In August, Duval County schools decided to strip classrooms of LGBTQ signage, flags and other propaganda materials. The move came in response to the new Parental Rights in Education law.
"We are in the process of rebranding the 'All In for Safe Schools' program," district spokesman Tracy Pierce told The Florida Times-Union. "The purpose of the rebranding is to send a clear message to all students that the support available through the program is open to them and not limited to any specific student population."
Activist groups were outraged by the new direction. A spokesman for the LGBT support group JASMYN told First Coast News that the removal of “safe space” stickers was “unnecessary and harmful” but added that hopefully, kids would still know who their “allies” are in school.
“It also comes as LGBTQ youth, the very students now seeing their identities scrubbed from Duval classrooms, continue facing higher risks of depression, anxiety, bullying, discrimination, and suicidality than their peers,” The Los Angeles Blade, an LGBTQ news source, argued.
