LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA — There is a chance that many of those who identify as LGBTQ+ parents will take their belongings and offspring and ditch the Sunshine State for a better place to live, research by UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute suggests.
According to the report, Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law is the big driver behind the desire to move.
“Many are concerned that the bill will not only result in restricted or nonexistent education about the existence of diverse sexual and gender identities, but it will result in a chilly or hostile school climate for LGBTQ educators, students, and families because it suggests that something is wrong with LGBTQ identities,” the report states.
The survey, which included 113 individuals identifying as LGBTQ+ parents, reports that 56 percent of them considered moving out of Florida and 16.5 percent had already taken steps to move out of Florida.
“LGBTQ+ parents reported that their children had already experienced a variety of impacts of the bill. This included harassment and bullying at school because they had LGBTQ+ parents, not being able to talk about their parents or their own LGBTQ+ identities at school or outside of school, and fears about continuing to live in Florida,” the report reads.
