A Florida bill filed in the House on Tuesday would require state schools to use pronouns for students on the basis of their biological sex.
The bill, HB 1223, states that employees at public schools would not be required to use another person’s preferred pronouns if those pronouns don’t match up with the person’s sex.
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In addition, the bill also seeks to prevent school staff from punishing a student who chooses not to provide his or her personal pronouns.
“’Sex’ means the binary division of individuals based upon reproductive function,” the bill’s text reads in part. “It shall be the policy of every public K-12 educational institution that is provided or authorized by the Constitution and laws of Florida that a person’s sex is an immutable biological trait and that it is false to ascribe to a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such a person’s sex.”
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The bill also extends rules created in the Parental Rights in Education law that was passed by lawmakers last year. Specifically, it would restrict the teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation for students in pre-K through eighth grade.
Any such education that’s provided in grades 9-12 would also need to be “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate,” the bill reads. According to the text, those rules would also apply to charter schools.
Furthermore, the bill also contains rules for parents who bring up a concern to schools.
According to the bill, school districts would be required to address such issues within 30 days or provide a reason why the concern can’t be resolved.
In the case that a concern isn’t resolved, the bill would also allow for parents to request a special magistrate appointed by the Commissioner of Education to intervene.
If approved, the bill would take effect July 1. The full text of the bill can be read below.
HB 1223 by Anthony Talcott on Scribd
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