Stop Ron DeSantis

Hello all,

Recently, one man, the governor of Florida, USA, has waged a campaign of blatant racism and homophobia against the people of the United States. Ron DeSantis, a republican who has been the governor of Florida since 2019, has been working his entire time in office to return Florida to it's bigoted state in the 1950s and before. He has banned education on one's sexuality within schools, with teachers that violate this "Don't Say Gay" bill finding themselves unemployed and the target of lawsuits from families of children who simply want to know who they are. DeSantis's bill reads "Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards." This initially seems to be a normal bill, simply hoping to delay unwanted exposure to inappropriate material to children, but it is the absolute rigidity of the law that is a problem. Any action of education on LGBTQ communities or sexual orientation can be prosecuted, no matter the severity. Also, the vague language on the prosecution of teachers in grades beyond third means that DeSantis can easily weaponize this law, charging teachers of any class just for teaching gender identity curriculum as soon as they are reported by paranoid conservative parents of students.

Students protest the signing of "Don't Say Gay"

This leads to a horrible power dynamic between schools and families built on terror of lawsuits. With the "Don't Say Gay" bill, Ron DeSantis has weaponized conservative parents, allowing them to cause irreparable harm to careers and livelihoods and restricting the freedom of speech within a classroom, banning the discussion of topics that are important to youth and ultimately leaving lonely LGBTQ youth with nobody to turn to, as their trusted teachers, if overheard talking to them about sexuality, can be fired. However, this is not where DeSantis' campaign of bigotry ends. His newest actions have placed him in the spotlight again for banning an AP Black History course. He claims that the offers of the education of people on the history of Black culture are enforcing a political agenda demeaning whites. in reality, he is only whitewashing history, attempting to once again return Florida to a sterilized white state where racism and bigotry can be easily tolerated and hate groups have an easy grounds on which to flourish. This man is also running for president on the Republican ticket in 2024, so watch out for further antics as we approach the election.

Yours in democracy,

The Great Beaver