 So we've talked about before how since conservatives don't actually have a policy or economic agenda for their constituents the way that they basically throw red meat to their insane base is to Perpetuate this endless culture war where they use marginalized communities as their political football and in this instance at least in Florida they're using LGBTQ children as Their political football now I'm sure that you've heard about the don't say gay bill that has been proposed in Florida And you might think that this is an issue of censorship and you'd be correct This is an issue of censorship But the consequences of this bill are much much worse than just teachers being censored here as Brooke McDonough of the Hill reports a Florida House Committee on Thursday passed the bill seeking to ban discussions of sexuality and gender identity in school classrooms which LGBTQ plus advocates say will effectively erase LGBTQ plus history Culture and students the parental rights and education bill Also known as the don't say gay bill past Thursday in the house education and employment committee largely along party lines The bill is about defending the most awesome responsibility a person can have being a parent Florida State Representative Joe Harding Who first introduced the bill said Thursday that job can only be given to you by above Harding's bill along with its companion bill introduced Tuesday by Florida State Representative Dennis Baxley would block teachers in Florida from talking about LGBTQ plus topics that are not age-appropriate or Developmentally appropriate for students according to the bill parents may take legal action against their child school district and be awarded damages If they believe any of its policies infringe on their fundamental right to make decisions regarding the upbringing and control of their children Now this stems from the ignorant belief that kids Won't be gay if they just aren't taught to be gay So if you can successfully hide gay people away from your child then congratulations You've raised a straight kid except it doesn't work that way if it did I certainly would have been straight because I was raised for lack of a better word to be heterosexual My parents never said here are your options might you can be gay or you could be straight never happened It's almost like this is all instinctive and you either are gay or you aren't but these dipshits think that you can actually condition a child To be what they naturally are not It's it's so ridiculous and immature and by now I thought that we've moved past this as a society But Florida always ceases to surprise me in some way usually for the worst But think about this here how this could unnecessarily penalize a teacher So let's say that a teacher in Florida is complying with the law perhaps they agree with the law But during sex ed class if Florida even teaches that they might be abstinence only I genuinely don't know but let's say For purposes of this hypothetical that a Florida teacher is teaching their students sex ed Well, what if one of the students who might be lgbtq plus talks about same-sex attractions that they're feeling or maybe issues with their gender identity And this teacher doesn't agree with any of that they their anti lgbtq But they still just talk to the kid about this if in any way they affirm That lgbtq plus identity that that child may or may not have a parent can sue them because of this fucking bill Is that not insane? Do they not understand how this could backfire and on top of that? This is a free speech issue censoring the existence of lgbtq people Telling teachers what they can and can't say I mean I understand that states are in some way going to try to influence the curriculum But actually saying you can't say this this is censorship. This is authoritarianism But that's not even the worst part about this because this bill will lead to lgbtq plus people dying and that's not hyperbole a separate report from the Trevor project found that lgbtq plus youth who learned about lgbtq plus people or issues in school had 23% lower odds of reporting a suicide attempt in the last year among middle and high school lgbtq plus students 19% have reported never learning about lgbtq plus issues or people in school Attempted suicide in the last year compared to 16% of students who had received lgbtq plus related lessons Other advocates have criticized the language of one of the Florida bills provisions Which would require educators and administrators to effectively out known lgbtq plus students to their parents without their consent This bill will erase young lgbtq students across Florida Forcing many back into the closet by policing their identity and silencing important discussions about the issues They face Sam Ames director of advocacy and government affairs at the Trevor project said in a statement lgbtq students deserve their history and experiences to be reflected in their education Just like their peers and that's exactly correct. So, you know the GOP in Florida here They might actually accomplish what they're trying to accomplish with this bill The result is to try to make sure that there are less gay kids and this bill could very possibly do that But it's not because they're being taught to be straight It's because as studies have shown if you are exposed to lgbtq plus history and culture, you're less likely to commit suicide That is a statistically significant fact, but they don't care and on top of that. There are other ways that this bill endangers lgbtq plus youth the provision where a teacher might have to out one of these children An obligation to tell the parents that their kid is a member of the lgbtq plus community possibly That is catastrophic on so many levels Coming out is not this Thing that you would rest flippantly. It's a very serious thing that Someone who's gay or trans or non-binary has to choose to do themselves. I was outed now I was an adult thankfully but still that was traumatic But being outed as a kid would have been orders of magnitude more traumatic And I don't know that I would have been able to recover from that. I'm still recovering from me being outed today When that happened more than a decade ago So what they're trying to do here is harm lgbtq plus children. This is an attack on children And they're okay with that. Why because what else are they going to give to their insane base? They can't deliver on economic policy. They don't offer anything to the working class But they have these attacks on gay people and I mean if you're a parent I mean, maybe you prefer straight kids subconsciously at least So here's your gift from the gop. This is how they're fighting for you It's just disgusting and this party is authoritarian and tyrannical and I don't even know what to say about this. This is just this is a deadly bill and these people are absolutely Disgusting