One of the protesters is 13-year-old Ash, who identifies as non-binary and likes to be addressed as ‘die’. Ash says he knows peers who are thinking about suicide because they can’t talk about their sexuality. “That will only increase. It is not so safe at school. People form their worldview at home, through their upbringing and it also depends on the region where you grow up in Florida.”
On the stage at Harvey Milk Way, named after a well-known American LGBT rights activist, a young man with the word PRIDE on his shirt addresses the crowd. His name is Dell, age 18. He knows how hard it is to come out. He knows many families where gender is out of the question. “This law requires teachers to notify parents that their child is talking about homosexuality,” explains Dell. “That carries the risk that children have to reveal their sexual orientation before they are ready.”
The right of the parents
Proponents of the law believe that parents should be the first to talk to their children about gender and orientation, not school. Anthony Verdugo, founder of the Christian Family Coalition, went to parliament in Florida’s capital, Tallahassee, to change opponents of the law. “At school, young people only have to learn to read, write and count. The rest is up to the parents,” says Verdugo. In his speech to the Senate, he also mentioned the story about the daughter of the Perez family.
The girl was confused with her sexuality and had gone to a mentor at school to talk about it. According to her father, those conversations led to the girl being addressed by a different name in class and male pronouns such as “he” and “his” being used when referring to her. The parents were not informed, the father said. The 13-year-old girl was then bullied to the point that she attempted suicide twice at school.
“I often refer to this example when people claim that school is a safe place,” explains Verdugo. “The parents are not the problem, but the solution. They know their child best and love their child.”
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