2 letters on 'Don't Say Gay' vs. 'Parental Rights in Education' bill

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

Trying to accommodate troubled children

Dear Editor:

Commenting on a recently passed law that you haven't actually read can backfire. The fact is that the recently passed, "Don't Say Gay Bill” has nothing in it that would actually address the two cases cited by another letter writer.

(Editor’s Note: A recent letter by Moms of Liberty Flagler Chapter President Shannon Rambow mentioned the Littlejohn and Perez families’ frustrations with how schools in Leon and Clay counties, respectively, dealt with their children.)

Further, the letter "cherry picks" some of the information surrounding the cases.

The reality comes down to educators trying to do their best to accommodate two very troubled young children. The question should be what kind of home environment caused these children to have these issues, what were the parents communicating to the schools, what were they actually doing to deal with their children's issues or were they trying to pretend nothing was wrong?

Edith Campins

Palm Coast

Don’t say gay, or don’t be gay?

Dear Editor:

In response to last week's letter in support of the controversial "Parental Rights Education Bill,” dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay Bill,” it may be of interest to explore a possible motive behind the bill, whether you agree with its content or not, and look into the bill’s Florida Senate sponsor, Dennis Baxley.

Senator Baxley has proclaimed that in Florida there is an “infestation of homosexuals that are pushing their agenda.” He has also expressed his disdain for adoptions by gay couples, opposed same-sex marriage, equated the children of drug addicts and alcoholics with the children of lesbian parents, compared being transgender as “believing you are an automobile” and has supported bills to repeal protections for LBGTQ workers and wanted to legalize gay conversion therapy, a widely debunked practice banned in 24 states.

Senator Baxley’s overall troubling anti-gay bias speaks loudly as to a motive behind his sponsorship of the bill. The bill does not put limits on sex education in general but rather chooses to target, and limit, gender identity and sexual orientation instruction.

And because perception is everything in politics, does it appear that this senator is actually attempting to sponsor a “Don’t Be Gay” bill rather than a “Don’t Say Gay” bill?

Robert Gordon

Palm Coast