DeSantis’s anti-LGBTQ citizen army

Florida Republicans are lying about their Don’t Say Gay bill, because what they passed is so odious:

In the week since Florida lawmakers passed H.B. 1557, dubbed the “don’t say gay” bill, the law’s most prominent supporters have refused to publicly tell the truth about what the measure actually says. According to the law’s sponsors and cheerleaders, H.B. 1557 is a simple ban on teaching very young students about sex. It is needed, they say, to prevent “groomers”—specifically, gay and trans teachers—from attempting to corrupt and indoctrinate children with explicit classroom materials. The “don’t say gay” moniker, they insist, is misleading: Teachers and students can still talk about LGBTQ issues; they just can’t force 8-and-unders to learn about gay sex and gender transition.

This framing of H.B. 1557, which Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign into law, is, objectively, a lie. It is refuted by the text of the bill itself, as well as its legislative history, which shows that Republican lawmakers rejectedefforts to turn the measure into a straightforward prohibition on sex education in early grades. In reality, H.B. 1557 uses intentionally vague language to outlaw a huge amount of speech about LGBTQ people, families, and issues—not just sex—in every grade. And it relies upon a vigilante enforcement mechanism to chill an even broader amount of speech by subjecting violators to humiliating investigations and ruinous lawsuits. The fact that H.B. 1557’s supporters lie about these basic facts suggests that they know their bill is indefensible and must conceal its true meaning to drag it over the finish line.

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Even if no parent ever sues under H.B. 1557, the threat of enforcement will hang over school districts. Just as doctors stopped performing abortions when Texas passed S.B. 8, teachers will stop mentioning LGBTQ issues once this bill takes effect. That’s the point: The law has a chilling effect on speech, frightening educators into silence. A parent can ruin teachers’ lives by filing a complaint or a lawsuit; even if a teacher is ultimately exonerated, they will have suffered through an intrusive investigation and faced accusation of misconduct—or “grooming”—that will never fade away completely. Many reasonable educators would rather stay quiet than risk a months- or yearslong probe into their classroom speech, one that may well end in their dismissal or, at a minimum, a permanently stained reputation.

H.B. 1557’s proponents are correct that the bill does not use the word gay. But this reductive defense exploits the measure’s unusual structure to obscure its inevitable impact. If the law were defensible on its own merits, Republicans would not resort to these facile lies when making the case for its passage.

I recommend the whole piece, which is very thorough in exposing this particular Big Republican Lie. The Supreme Court blessing Texas’s Stasi tactics, in particular, is going to do an incredible amount of damage to a variety of fundamental rights.