The Biggest Deception of FL’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Law Is It's Meant To Protect Children

It fails to protect ALL children

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Here we go, yet again. We, the Gay and Lesbian community, are stuck playing the part of the political football. Florida Governor DeSantis using fear mongering against LGBT people is nothing new. Rather than listen to the same skip on this old record, why don’t we counter this monstrous legislation with a practical solution?

I always wondered when I would get into my Sophia Petrillo phase of life.

Turns out, age 41. Picture it: Brooklyn, 2004. I’m sitting in my apartment using stolen cable to watch CNN on my Zenith. I’m sitting on my windowsill because I’m freezing cold and that’s where the good radiator is. I’m drinking instant coffee, and that’s when I see that George W. Bush wants to codify a prohibition on same-sex marriage into the constitution. This was Karl Rove’s brainchild to help Bush get a second term, since the war in Iraq was turning into more than a political boondoggle.

* The LARGEST group of homeless youth are LGBT *

The idea was politically perfect from a Republican re-election standpoint. Just the year prior, Lawrence v. Texas had been decided; we won the right to fuck and not be put in prison for it. Vermont had civil unions and Hawaii had been toying with letting gays get married for years. We were apparently asking for a little rain on our parade.

Gay panic set in as it ALWAYS inevitably does.

The Democratic bench looked weak, so some fear mongering over kids everywhere becoming faggots and dykes could be just the trick to clinch a win for Bush and Cheney. The clear touch-tone phone on my wall rang, and I talked with a friend watching the same report I was. He was helping to organize a rally. That night, I packed some extra batteries and some tapes for my Walkman as the next day was going to be a long one.

Bush got his second term despite our best efforts. But thankfully, nothing ever came of his Federal Marriage Amendment.

Fast forward 18 years.

We’ve come a long way baby, but not far enough to make the gay-panic political ploy a poison pill. Enter Florida’s HB 1557, aka Don’t Say Gay. DeSantis, inspired by Virginia’s Governor Younkin, signs the “Parental Rights in Education” bill that effectively BANS discussion of LGBT issues between Pre-K to the 3rd grade and promises to thoroughly chill discussion in older grades.

DeSantis is effectively using the intelligent design playbook.

Make parents scared of something and promise them control over what their kids learn. While much has been made about what this bill will and won’t do, what’s certain is that gay people are the OBVIOUS target. Conservatives have tried some counter marketing calling it an “anti-groomer” bill. Because that’s not another old tactic. Florida isn’t the only place this is happening. Several politicians have been announcing that they plan on following in DeSantis’ footsteps, all under the guise of “protecting children.”

That got me to thinking. The LARGEST group of homeless youth are LGBT, with as much as 40% of young people living on the streets and in shelters identifying as queer. LGBTQ+ young adults experience homelessness at more than twice the rate of their peers. One way or another, they either come out or they get dragged out of the closet. Sometimes, they are kicked out of their homes, other times they run away as they no longer feel safe with their parents. Some of these kids are as young as 12.

With these gears turning in my head, I got to thinking about another way to protect children.

These runaways/castouts NEED financial support. The infrastructure that’s in place right now for them basically relies on donations and volunteers. Some of it does get some government help, but that basically means YOU and I are paying to barely take care of some homophobic/transphobic bigot’s poor kids. Here are some more interesting points about homeless LGBT youth from 23 Dramatic Homeless LGBT Youth Statistics — BrandonGaille.com

• LGBT youth who are homeless commit suicide twice as often that homeless youth who identify themselves as heterosexual.
• LGBT youth are also more than 7 times more likely to experience some form of sexual violence than their heterosexual counterparts.
• Almost 60% of LGBT youth who are homeless have been sexually victimized or exploited at least once in their lives.
• There are up to 2.8 million youth at any given time who are homeless in the United States alone.
• Up to 400k LGBT youth face the issue of homelessness every year.
• The average age that a LGBT youth becomes homeless in the State of New York is 14.
• 62% of LGBT youth experience some form of discrimination from their families, which is double the amount of other youth demographics.
• Over 40% of LGBT youth who are homeless have indicated that they have abused alcohol at least once within the last 30 days.
• 86% of LGBT students report that they have been verbally harassed at school because of their sexual orientation at some point during the school year.
• LGBT youth are more than 3 times more likely to have used illicit drugs and had unprotected sex, including survival sex, than their counterparts.
• 44% of LGBT students report that they have been physically harassed at school because of their sexual orientation as well.
• LGBT youth are twice as likely to either drop out of high school or choose not to pursue some form of higher education.
• 78% of LGBT youth who were placed with a foster family were either removed from a foster home or chose to run away from one because of discrimination or conflicts because of their sexual identification in New York.
• Only $195 million is dedicated to providing assistance to homeless youth in the United States year-by-year.

If we’re all about protecting children, then let’s protect some children.

If a child runs away from home or they’re kicked out by their parents, their welfare should REMAIN the responsibility of the parents. Rather than dip into taxpayer coffers or passing a plate around to support these kids, the parents of these children should have a portion of their paychecks deducted to support these unfortunate children until they turn 21 years old. This should help take care of them and help keep them off the streets and out of the system.

The kids should IN NO WAY be forced to return to the unsafe environments they were exiled from. Regardless of what the parents claim after the fact. Not until they’ve taken a few classes to help ensure that these kids will be returning to a safe home if they choose to resume living with their parents. Regular wellness checks for at least a year should be part of making sure these kids are safe.

Now, you’re probably saying to yourself “can this really be done?” The answer is ABSOLUTELY YES. We already deduct money from parents’ bank accounts for financial support after a divorce to help maintain the welfare of the child. Can we make parents go to classes in order to get their kids back? Have you ever gotten a traffic ticket? As for if we can mandate wellness checks, DCFS, CPS, etc all exist to do exactly that.

If we’re all about protecting the children, then let’s protect ALL of the children. Otherwise, Florida’s HB 1557 is nothing more than an attack against LGBT people DeSantis can use to pad his political resume for the 2024 presidential elections.