Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Adds New Amendment That Would Allow Schools to Out Students’ Sexual Orientations

Florida‘s Under the Parental Rights in Education bill (HB-1557 or SB-1834) has a new proposed amendment that would order schools to out students about their sexual orientation.

Opposers of the bill have referred to it as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would ban teachers in schools from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity. A new amendment of the bill would allow a school to announce or “out” a student’s sexuality. The amendment was added Friday, and it states that if a student confides in a teacher, the school would have six weeks to tell the child’s parents, Fox 13 reports.

The school would then have to create a plan with the use of government resources to let parents know about their child’s sexuality, the news outlet reports. The House is set to put the bill up for debate on Tuesday, and it will move to a floor vote by the end of this week.

Opposers call the bill “unnecessary” and “hateful.”

“People are outraged. People are really, really upset about this,” said Michael Womack, the communications manager for Equality Florida, reports Fox 13. “We’re really concerned about this because sometimes the home is not the safest place for a kid, and they often confide in teachers. Forced outing is going to be detrimental to a lot of kids’ mental health and their physical safety.”