A.G. Gancarski
A bill reintroduced by one Florida Senator and co-sponsored by another would impose gender identity guardrails on schools.
The Parental Rights Over the Education and Care of Their (PROTECT) Kids Act, which has been reintroduced by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott and co-sponsored by Marco Rubio, purports to “protect parental rights and prevent school administrators from concealing information about students’ gender from their parents.”
“I have long believed that parents, not the government, know what is best for their children. It is time for schools to stop pushing these woke ideologies on our kids and let them focus on reading, writing and arithmetic. I am proud to stand with my colleagues in supporting the PROTECT Kids Act to stop the indoctrination and ensure parents have a say in what happens at their kids’ school,” Scott asserted in a release accompanying the legislation.
The bill, per Scott’s Office, “would restrict federal funding for any elementary or middle school that allows students to change their pronouns, gender markers, or sex-based accommodations, including locker rooms and bathrooms, without the consent of their parents.”
While Florida under Gov. Ron DeSantis has already taken action to restrict bathroom usage and interscholastic athletic competitions on the grounds of gender assignment at birth, the bill cites issues in Iowa and Virginia as needing federal redress. The legislation asserts that parental rights are protected by the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
“Parents have a fundamental, constitutionally guaranteed right to raise and educate their children in the way that they choose. Public schools across the country are violating these fundamental parental and familial rights by deliberately hiding information about gender transitioning children from their parents,” asserts the legislation.
Offending “schools are sabotaging the parent-child relationship and encouraging children to keep secrets from the adults who are charged with protecting and defending them — their parents,” the text continues.
Unsurprisingly, all co-sponsors are Republican, which doesn’t bode well for its progress upon reintroduction in the Democratic-majority Senate.
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina co-introduced the measure with Scott. Sens. Mike Crapo of Idaho, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi are among the co-sponsors.
5 comments
cassandra
February 7, 2023 at 10:42 am
Scott: “…schools are sabotaging the parent-child relationship and encouraging children to keep secrets from….their parents…”
The actual and obvious problem is parents who have cultivated such a poor relationship with their child that the student is too fearful of their parents to feel safe talking about gender issues with them. These parents are the ONLY ones “sabotaging the parent-child relationship”, and they should be encouraged to seek counseling to resolve *their* issues.
Jackson M.
February 7, 2023 at 10:45 am
Honestly, who gives a f*ck?
Republicans are going into the weeds over all this nonsense “Woke” stuff, while everybody in Florida just saw their insurance rates double and Florida has one of the worst inflation rates in the country, while the average salary ranks 38th out 50.
Forget these Culture War theatrics, and DO YOUR F*CKING JOB.
Elliott Offen
February 7, 2023 at 11:32 am
They do that stuff to distract from the fact that they don’t govern unless there is an emergency. Also, they don’t want to do anything that hinders the rich from taking every dime of everyone’s money in every way possible.. through wages, paying low or no taxes, sabotaging social benefits etc. Furthermore, I would add that you can’t have people in government who are anti-government. That is insane. People have gone insane electing these people. Sub-ape levels of stupidity enforced by right wing propaganda and lies.
Lex
February 8, 2023 at 3:16 pm
If you had a child trying to transition without your knowledge, you would care as a parent. What I don’t understand is why this has become controversial. Are we really trying to take parents out of parenting?
To your other point, you are correct. We need to chew gum and walk at the same time. Woke things are the gum and walking is more important.
Inflation is going to be handled at the Federal level. States have very little control over inflation.
Insurance rates States do have control of. The largest contributor to both parties in the State of Florida are the insurance companies. But the State needs to get out of backing up insurance for beachfront property; taxpayers don’t need to subsidize beachfront homes.
cassandra
February 9, 2023 at 6:51 pm
If your child felt safe talking to you they would. Any parent that a child is too afraid to talk to is eligible for a child (psychological, emotional) abuse referral. Children should not fear their parents.
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