TALLAHASSEE, Fla. –
Florida recommends school districts ignore the protections for LGBTQ2+ students that President Joe Biden’s administration is trying to implement, saying anti-discrimination language is not binding and Following the instructions may result in a violation of state law.
Florida Commissioner of Education, Manny Diaz, wrote to school districts on Thursday saying they shouldn’t change current practices because new rules proposed under Title IX would expand protections protect students from sexual discrimination based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.
“There is nothing in these guidelines that requires you to allow biological males to be identified as female into bathrooms, changing rooms or female dorms… or to allow males to give birth,” says Diaz. identified as women competing in women’s sports teams”.
He added that doing any of that would “jeopardize the safety and welfare of Florida students and risk violating Florida law.”
But Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, the only elected Democrat statewide and the body that has a school lunch program abroad, said the problem is not just about bathrooms but about students to eat. The U.S. Department of Agriculture requires schools to post non-discriminatory posters to receive federal money for lunch programs, she said.
Fried, who hopes to challenge Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, said at a news conference: “This is a fictional culture war they’ve created to deny baby food. “I will do everything I can to make sure that the kids of Florida are not victims of the DeSantis administration and refusing their meals.”
Fried’s department recently told schools that they should put up posters in the new language. Diaz’s letter asks schools to ignore that guidance because it could violate state law.
Last year, DeSantis signed a bill banning anyone designated as male at birth from participating in girls’ or women’s sports. This year, he signed a bill banning discussion of gender identity or sexual orientation in public schools until at least 3rd grade.
Earlier this month, a federal judge in Tennessee blocked the implementation of proposed new federal protections after 20 states sued over the matter.
