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In March, a Sarasota County school silenced an LGBTQ student’s graduation speech and prevented him from saying the word "gay." This comes as conservative groups like Moms for Liberty attempt to ban books that include LGBTQ characters in school districts across the state.Īccording to a survey by the Trevor Project, LGBTQ students who consider their school a safe space have lower rates of contemplating suicide. For example, in March, a Cape Coral school fired a pansexual educator for telling middle school students her orientation when they asked. Photo courtesy of Safe Schools South Florida Though HB 1557 doesn't go into effect until July, it appears that school districts across the state are already taking steps to minimize their risk. Galvin believes the real concern was over the decision to have a drag queen emcee this year's event. During past Empowerment Days, Galvin says, MDCPS, specifically its Department of Student Services, would work closely with the nonprofit by advertising training seminars for teachers, and district employees would volunteer their time to help pull off the event, which hosts as many as 200 students over the course of the school day.Īccording to Galvin, Empowerment Day’s go-to venue for the past ten years, the Coral Gables United Church of Christ, had always been decorated with Pride flags for the event, which had never been an issue. MDCPS has collaborated with Safe Schools South Florida since 1994. The statement does not mention "Don't Say Gay." "MDCPS personnel attempted to address some of these concerns however, an agreement could not be reached."
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"Based on the information that was provided to us after the event planning process had taken place, the District felt as though the essence of the event had shifted with entertainment as a primary focus," reads the statement. Ron DeSantis signed into law HB 1557: Parental Rights in Education (known by opponents as the "Don't Say Gay" bill), which prohibits instruction on sexuality and gender between kindergarten and third grade or "in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards." Whether Empowerment Day potentially violates HB 1557 is a moot point, Galvin says, given that the bill doesn't go into effect until July 1.Īn MDCPS spokesperson tells New Times in an emailed statement that the decision not to promote Empowerment Day stemmed from the event's programming, which the school district claims was more focused on entertainment this year. "Somewhere at this stage is when they said, 'Yeah, but "Don’t Say Gay" now exists.'" Photo courtesy of Safe Schools South Florida "They said, 'Get rid of the drag queen or our schools are not going,' and that they can't justify this as being empowering," Galvin recounts. He says the staffers raised concerns about students’ safety at home if they were to be pictured with a drag queen or rainbow flags. He says the flyer, which was designed with a rainbow theme and included a small photo of Famouz in a glittery dress along with information about the event. Galvin says the concern focused on a promotional flyer that featured a photo of Crystal Famouz, a drag queen who'd be emceeing the event. "These are our first-line folks, which made it all the more stunning to us." When we want to do training for faculty members, we contact them to put it on their calendar and promote it to their teachers," Galvin explains.
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"These are the individuals that are our go-between for LGBTQ issues. That's when two staffers notified him that Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) had concerns about the event and wasn't sure whether it would promote it. Until about five weeks before the event, that is. Though the event had been canceled for the past two years owing to social-distancing concerns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Galvin says everything was going according to plan this year. Almost every April for the past 11 years, the nonprofit has hosted Empowerment Day, which brings together different chapters of the student-run extracurricular club Gay-Straight Alliance and offers panels, pizza, and breakout sessions. The goal, as Safe Schools executive director Scott Galvin puts it, is to "interact and feel uplifted" by connecting students with important members of the local LGBTQ community. Safe Schools South Florida, a nonprofit organization that promotes healthy interactions between LGBTQ students and their educators, works to make classrooms safer and more accepting.