New laws target queer students

By Emily Short @crying_apollo

In the first five months of this year, 130 anti-LGBTQ bills and laws have been signed into law. The most prominent bill, known as the Don’t Say Gay bill was expanded on April 19 to ban any mention of LGBTQ+ topics from grades 4-12, whereas the original only included grades K-3.

In recent months, various states, such as Florida and Texas, have instituted legislation that censors the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity. In Texas, SB 1029 is being processed but hasn’t been approved as of May 25. It serves to ban all gender affirming care from everyone within the state. The increase in proposed anti-gay legislation is concerning students who don’t even live in those states.

“I don’t fear for my safety here at Daniel Pearl (Magnet High School) because I’ve been here for so long and surrounded myself with people I know I can trust,” senior and Pride Club President Naamah Silcott said. “I worry about the safety of other kids that are in places like Florida that have adopted similar bills. It’s terrifying that kids can’t admit to who they really are without being stigmatized, brutalized or even disowned.”

Though no similar bill has survived in California, DPMHS students continue to keep up with the news across the country. “These kids, they’re going to figure out about this eventually. It’s not protecting them from the gay by banning these books (and lessons),” senior Vincent Rincon said.

“There are going to be queer kids in these states and by restricting these books, you’re doing nothing but harming their ability to come to terms with themselves.”

Just like students, teachers are affected by the laws being approved. Teachers have to review the books and lesson plans from their classroom to make sure banned material isn’t discussed. Queer teachers in those states fear that they may be forced to lose their profession.

“The fact that a lot of states that have this conservative viewpoint are starting to create this kind of legislation and put these ideas in the forefront is really dangerous and makes me feel like I can’t work anywhere else,” sponsor of Pride Club Timothy Hughes said. “For a long time, I thought, maybe I don’t want to live in California forever. But if I go to Florida, not only would I be worried about queer students, but as a queer person myself, I would not be able to be openly who I am without feeling like I might lose my job.”