“Literally, it’s the oldest trick in the book against LGBTQ people.” “She basically called me a pedophile,” Smith told Yahoo News in a phone conversation on Monday evening. Instead, she only sharpened her attacks, in keeping with the confrontational style DeSantis learned from former President Donald Trump, which has made both of them a darling of Fox News and talk radio. “Bigoted attacks like this against LGBTQ people are the worst of the worst,” wrote Smith. (Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)įor his part, Smith responded to the provocative “grooming” tweets by charging that Pushaw was assigning grotesque motives to the measure’s opponents. Ron DeSantis at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando in late February. It’s expected to be signed by DeSantis soon.įlorida Gov. President Biden has called the bill “hateful,” but because Republicans control the state Legislature, Democrats have little say in the bill’s shape or outcome.
Most observers believe that the practical effect of the law would be to effectively prevent all but the most anodyne discussion of sexual identity and practice. Parents can sue school districts that violate this vague standard, which leaves the question of what is or isn’t “appropriate” unanswered. Instead, it stipulates that lessons on “sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate.” 1557 in the Legislature’s lower chamber and titled “Parental Rights in Education” - says nothing about the practice of grooming. In reality, the controversial bill - known as H.B. This is how it works, Democrats, and I didn’t make the rules,” wrote Pushaw, who has emerged as a Twitter firebrand with the kind of intensely partisan attacks that are rare for most state officials.
“If you’re against the Anti-Grooming Bill, you are probably a groomer or at least you don’t denounce the grooming of 4-8 year old children. Ron DeSantis, took to Twitter last Friday to say that the measure was in fact an “Anti-Grooming Bill,” a reference to some conservatives’ unfounded fears that frank discussions of gender and sexuality in the classroom are part of a leftist conspiracy to turn American children away from traditional gender roles and sexual behaviors. (Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)Īs the controversial bill headed for passage, Christina Pushaw, press secretary to Gov. Carlos Smith at a protest against then-President Donald Trump in 2019 in Orlando.