Q Toon: DeSantis Suit

As much as I would prefer to put out simple, direct single-panel editorial cartoons, I've ended up drawing a lot of four-panel cartoons this year, because cartoons about news stories that aren't necessarily front and center in the national conversation require a bit of exposition. My topic this week, however, while a local story, got the attention of the White House the other day — mostly because, as Jennifer Psaki pointed out, it's really part of a vast right-wing conspiracy national trend. 

“Make no mistake: This is not an isolated action in Florida. Across the country, we’re seeing Republican leaders taking action to regulate what students can or cannot read, what they can or cannot learn, and most troubling, who they can or cannot be."

"Don't Say Gay" bills forbidding any mention of LGBTQ-ness in public schools are nothing new in Right-wing Kancel Kultur, but Florida legislators have now apparently taken a cue from Texas's anti-abortion law. It's not the state that will restrict teachers' freedom of speech; they're just deputizing their antigay minions to sue! sue! sue!

A Florida bill that would limit classroom discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity and encourage parents to sue schools or teachers that engage in these topics is speeding through the state House and Senate.

It's being called a "Don't Say Gay" bill by LGBTQ advocates, who fear that if this bill is signed into law, it could act as a complete ban on the lessons on LGBTQ oppression, history and discussions about LGBTQ identities.

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Rep. Joe Harding, who is the sponsor of the legislation, hopes it will "reinforce the fundamental right of parents to make decisions regarding upbringing & control of their children," according to the bill's text.

Governor DeSantis has expressed support for the bill, alleging that

“We’ve seen instances of students being told by different folks in school, ‘Oh, well, don’t worry, don’t pick your gender yet, do all this other stuff’,” DeSantis said. “They won’t tell the parents about these discussions that are happening.”

He continued: “That is entirely inappropriate.”

Republicans pushing the bill have claimed that its reach is limited to pre-K through third grade curricula, but the legislation’s language does not, in fact, make any mention of curriculum instruction or grade-levels. Its vague language bans “classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity,” which could be stretched to include even the most tangential, casual mention of someone's parents or spouse.

Kara Gross, the legislative director and senior policy counsel for the ACLU of Florida, testified to the state Senate Education Committee against the legislation, calling it “government censorship.”

“If passed, it would effectively silence students from speaking about their LGBTQ+ family members, friends, neighbors and icons. Additionally, it would bar students from talking about their own lives and would erase their very existence,” she said. “These are not taboo subjects, but banning them makes them so."

The Republican-dominated committee sent the bill to the full state Senate on a strictly party line vote.