Miami school board rejects LGBTQ month recognition once again

For the second time, the Miami-Dade County School Board rejected a proposal that would’ve made October “LGBTQ history month,” according to multiple reports.

The 5-3 decision came around 1 a.m. Thursday morning, after dozens of public speakers representing both sides of the issue made their respective cases. A similar item was proposed last year before also being denied.

Since 2021, the last time the Miami-Dade school board members recognized “LGBTQ history month,” school boards in numerous Florida counties have been reshaped by members who align with a view that some conservatives and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) hold — that parents have a right to influence local curricula and other aspects of their child’s education.

More than 520 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the country this year alone, according to the Human Rights Campaign, and many of them dictate how LGBTQ history can be taught in schools. Florida has been at the center of this movement.

The state’s Don’t Say Gay Bill, signed into law in March 2022, barred public schools from teaching about gender identity or sexual orientation. Formally called the Parental Rights in Education Act, instruction on the topics were initially banned for students in grades K-3, but the Florida Board of Education expanded the scope of the law to include all grades in April 2023.

Those on the board who support recognizing “LGBTQ history month,” including board member Lucia Baez-Geller, said it was a “ceremonial” and “nonbinding” way to support LGBTQ students and families in the state. According to Baez-Geller, the anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and agenda touted by the DeSantis administration and state Legislature sparked opposition to LGBTQ history month.

But conservatives on the board, including DeSantis nominee and board Vice Chairman Danny Espino, said passing the item would go against the “intent” and “spirit” of the parental rights laws.

“I really don’t know how a teacher is expected to recognize, observe and celebrate this month without being perceived by students’ parents as instruction or without crossing the line and becoming instruction,” Espino said.

Baez-Geller, speaking to her point of the influence of the “Don’t Say Gay Bill,” pointed out that the idea was not controversial in 2021, when it passed 8-1.

“This didn’t happen in 2021 before the Parental Rights in Education bill,” Baez-Geller said.

“It’s the cultural politics, it’s the political agendas, it’s the war on minorities, it’s the war on people who already are struggling,” she continued.

There is research to suggest that LBGTQ people feel more safe, and are far less likely to attempt suicide, when they learn about prominent LGBTQ figures or issues in school.

A Trevor Project report released in 2021 found that LGBTQ young people who learned about prominent LGBTQ figures or issues in school were far less likely to report a past-year suicide attempt than those who did not.