President Joe Biden on Tuesday criticized the bill that seeks to ban teachers from talking about sexual orientation in Florida schools while promising to “protect” children from the LGBT community.
“I want all members of the LGBTQI+ community, especially the children who will be affected by this hate bill, to know that they are loved and accepted just the way they are,” Biden said in a message on Twitter.
He also promised that his administration “will continue to fight for the protection and safety” of minors in the community.
The bill, known as “Don’t say gay” (“Do not say gay”) because it would prohibit talking about gender identity and sexual orientation in Florida elementary schools, advanced its processing in the state Senate on Tuesday when it was approved by the House Education Committee.
The initiative, promoted by Republicans and criticized by the LGBT community, considers that sexual orientation topics are not “appropriate for the age or development of students”.
If the project is approved, parents will be able to file lawsuits against the school district and receive compensation for damages.
The spokeswoman for the White House, Jen Psaki, affirmed this Tuesday in her daily press conference that said the initiative is “legislation designed to target and attack children” of the LGBT community.
In addition, he lamented that this is not an “isolated” event that occurred only in Florida: “Throughout the country, we are seeing Republicans regulate what students can read, what they can learn and, even more worrying, what they can to be”, he reproached.
On the other hand, the project has the sympathy of the state governor, Republican Ron DeSantis, who said on Monday that he sees it “totally inappropriate” for teachers to have such conversations with students.
“Schools must teach children to read and write,” he said.