A Florida lawmaker withdrew a proposed amendment Tuesday that would have required schools to notify parents of their children’s sexual orientation as part of a larger and highly controversial bill that would bar schools from discussing sexual orientation with students.
Joe Harding, a representative in the Florida State House, filed the amendment last week, seeking to add it to the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill that has garnered significant national attention in recent weeks.
The amendment would have required school officials to inform a student’s parents within six weeks if their child tells the school they have a nonstraight sexual orientation.
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Harding was the original sponsor of the larger bill, which has been working its way through the Florida Legislature and contained a provision of parental notification that allowed exceptions if there were suspicion the child would face abuse. The withdrawn amendment did not provide the same exception.
Schools in the state have been under the microscope for their failure to notify parents about transgender identities professed by students.
Two lawsuits have been filed in recent months after two separate public schools orchestrated gender transitions for students who expressed gender dysphoria without notifying the student’s parents.
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In one case, the parents said in the court filing the school only notified them of their daughter’s gender dysphoria after she attempted to commit suicide in the school bathroom for the second time.
This article has been updated to reflect that the amendment was withdrawn.
