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The original Florida House sponsor of what’s been dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill on Tuesday suddenly withdrew an amendment to require school principals to disclose a child’s sexual orientation to parents within six weeks if they find out a student has come out as other than straight. 

The amendment by Rep. Joe Harding, R-Williston, was to be debated and voted on the House floor Tuesday afternoon.  

►  Read the amendment as filed here. 

But less than an hour before the House was set to convene, he withdrew the amendment. 

In a statement, the state representative explained that “the exaggeration and misrepresentation in reporting about the amendment was a distraction; all the amendment did was create procedures around how, when and how long information was withheld from parents so that there was a clear process and kids knew what to expect.

“Nothing in the amendment was about outing a student. Rather than battle misinformation related to the amendment, I decided to focus on the primary bill that empowers parents to be engaged in their children’s lives,” he added. 

State Rep. Joe Harding speaks on the House floor in this undated photo.

The underlying bill still generally seeks to regulate discussions in schools of sexual orientation and gender identity, and would give parents the power to sue violators.

As previously reported by the USA TODAY Network, proponents say the legislation will empower parents to be involved in conversations about their students’ sexual identity.

Opponents say schools may be the only safe place for some kids to talk about their sexuality, and the bills will hurt kids who aren’t ready to come out to their parents or feel unsupported. 

Prior coverage from the USA TODAY Network:

Originally, the idea was to protect students confiding in teachers, counselors and others, and who might be subject to “abuse, abandonment or neglect” if parents found out their sexual orientation. 

Harding’s now-withdrawn amendment read in part that such knowledge has to be “based solely on child-specific information personally known to school personnel.”

“The school principal or his or her designee shall develop a plan, using all available governmental resources, to disclose such information within (six) weeks after the decision to withhold such information from the parent,” it adds. 

That plan “must facilitate disclosure between the student and parent through an open dialogue in a safe, supportive, and judgment-free environment that respects the parent-child relationship and protects the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of the student,” according to the proposed language. 

Earlier this month, President Biden personally called the legislation “hateful,” which prompted a response from Harding himself. 

“The bill is designed to keep school districts from talking about these topics before kids are ready to process them,” the first-term lawmaker said. “I don’t think it’s controversial to empower parents ….

“Kids can and will talk about whatever they want at school. We just want to make sure teachers promote that discussion at the right age, and we want to make sure parents are kept in the loop.”





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