Gender Identity

The district will require students to use bathrooms that correspond with the sex listed on their birth certificate. Advocates say that harms transgender, non-binary and intersex students.

The majority opinion indicated that similar reasoning could apply to disputes about banning transgender females from playing on women’s and girls’ sports teams.

The law bars instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3. Senate President Kathleen Passidomo suggests extending the law to include additional grades.

The State Board of Education will meet Wednesday to examine LGBTQ support guides and bathroom policies for transgender students in 10 school districts — including Hillsborough County — to make sure they comply with state law.

Republican attorneys general of 14 states sought approval to file a brief supporting Florida in a fight about the new law. Democratic attorneys general from 15 states and the District of Columbia filed a brief supporting the bill’s challengers.

Rep. Joe Harding, 35, illegally obtained or tried to obtain pandemic aid loans, according to federal prosecutors.

The proposed rule could be used “to censor viewpoints in support of LGBTQ+ youth and families,” Kara Gross, legislative director for the ACLU of Florida, said in a statement condemning the plan.

Activists are campaigning against clinics that offer care for transgender teenagers. Some families worry that will only fuel efforts to ban gender-affirming care in their state.

Students, parents, and teachers have filed a revised lawsuit seeking to block a new Florida law that restricts classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation.

The lawsuit in Orlando named as defendants several central Florida school boards charged with implementing the law, which critics have dubbed "Don't Say Gay."

If the bill were to become law, it could affect not only schools but also programs, events and literature at any federally funded institution. But its prospects are dim for now.

While DeSantis backed legislation that intensified scrutiny of school library books and instructional materials, Crist says he is betting on his ability to convince voters that he can reinstate “respect to educators.”