Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s spokeswoman claimed on Monday that President Joe Biden and his administration are leaning into false narratives about HB 1557 because they are afraid to openly advocate for “transgenderism in kindergarten.”
Both Biden and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona weighed in on the bill Monday after DeSantis signed the legislation, which bans classroom discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation for little children in kindergarten through third grade (around ages 5-9).
The Biden administration promised to “protect” LGBTQ youth and to potentially get the Office of Civil Rights involved if any child impacted by the law feels discriminated against.
DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw pointed The Daily Wire to remarks the governor made at a Monday press conference.
“As Governor DeSantis said today, many high-profile critics of HB 1557 have read the legislation – but they intentionally mislead people about what it says,” she said.
“President Biden knows full well that the law Governor DeSantis signed today will protect parents’ rights and ensure young children in grades K-3 are not exposed to inappropriate sexual content or gender ideology in the classroom,” she said. “Biden and other Democrat politicians understand that most sane people, including their own voters, support these common-sense protections.”
But Democrats — and the Biden administration — are afraid to openly support radically progressive stances under such a national spotlight, Pushaw suggested.
“Democrats do not want to openly advocate for transgenderism in kindergarten, so they have to fabricate a false narrative about the law instead,” she said. “Why doesn’t Biden just say what he believes: that it’s good to instruct young children about changing their gender, while hiding it from their parents?”
The White House did not clarify to The Daily Wire whether the president supports sexual orientation and gender identity conversations for children aged 5-9.
Florida’s HB 1447 states that “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
The bill has been wildly misrepresented as “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, though nowhere in the legislation is the word “gay” mentioned.
The word “parent” is mentioned 32 times, the word “parental” is mentioned eight times, and the legislation heavily focuses on parental notification and parental awareness of what children are being taught or exposed to in school.
DeSantis said Monday that parents have a “fundamental” role in the education, upbringing, and healthcare of their children, insisting that he will never cave to pressure from outside groups like Disney.
Leftist activists know that Americans overwhelmingly oppose indoctrinating children with sexual or gender ideology, DeSantis said, pointing to polling from outlets like The Daily Wire and Politico showing that most Americans don’t want gender identity being taught in schools.
“Someone told me that there’s even people in Hollywood that are opposed to providing protections for parents and enforcing parents rights,” he added. “The one thing I’ll say about that: the people who held up degenerates like Harvey Weinstein as exemplars, if those are the types of people opposing us on parents rights, I wear that like a badge of honor.”
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Source: Dailywire
