With the signing of the Parental Rights in Education law in Florida, the pearl-clutching has only gotten worse. According to liberals far and wide, most of which don’t even reside in the Sunshine State, it is an affront to their civil rights for teachers to not be able to discuss transgenderism and sexuality with small children. In this case, we are talking about K-3rd graders.
On Friday, a Facebook post circulated concerning a shirt that said “protect trans kids” being worn by a teacher. Per the post, the shirt was deemed political (because it clearly is, especially given the current environment) and was asked to be removed.
That led to a rash of claims that this was because of Florida’s new law.
But don't you dare call it a "Don't Say Gay" law because then supporters' feelings will be hurt. https://t.co/1G88n71tCH
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) April 1, 2022
For starters, what does being transgender have to do with being gay? On that fact alone, Gabriel Malor, who delivered the snarky response above about “don’t say gay,” isn’t making any sense. Perhaps he should apply the false moniker “don’t say trans” to the law instead?
Regardless, some basic research shows the outrage to be completely misplaced. First of all, the Parental Rights in Education law does not go into effect until July of 2022. Therefore, it could not have been the cause of this shirt being removed from the school.
Florida's Parental Rights in Education law has a July 1, 2022, effective date. So Gabe is blatantly lying. Nevertheless, the article, which our talentless lawyer Gabe failed to read, shows why the teacher had to remove the shirt.
Remember this when Gabe opines on legal matters https://t.co/36L9O0jiHU pic.twitter.com/Uw6DInWwSy
— EJ (@Ejmiller25) April 1, 2022
So, what actually happened here? The school district in question had a pre-existing policy that excluded political messages on shirts. “Protect trans kids” and other variations of the saying are political slogans that have been widely adopted by the left. In fact, to further that point, Texas’ Beto O’Rourke wore this “Don’t mess with Trans kids” shirt just days ago.
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) March 31, 2022
Let’s game this out further. Teachers are not allowed to give Bible lessons in public schools. Imagine if the response to that was a mass Republican movement asserting to “Protect Christian kids.” Would any liberal be fine with a teacher sporting that kind of shirt while operating in their official capacity at school? Of course, they wouldn’t, and they’d throw a fit, claiming it was not only political but that it was discriminatory against non-Christian children.
It is not clever, nor is it acceptable, for teachers to try to protest a duly passed law while being paid by the state and on the job. Professionalism matters and that includes attire. None of this was a controversial concept until five minutes ago, when the left decided that teachers are their own entity that should be free from the shackles of any oversight at all. If teachers want to protest, they can do so after work.
Lastly, even if the Parental Rights in Education law had been responsible for this episode, so what? Why must taxpayer-funded teachers be able to express their personal political views while at school? The answer is that they shouldn’t. Here’s an out-of-the-box idea: Just teach what the curriculum calls for. A crazy thought, I know.
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