On Wednesday last week, state officials approved new rules dealing with gender identity and internet use in schools. The Florida Board of Education met at the Rosen Shingle Creek resort at 9 a.m. The members, who were all appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis or his predecessor, implemented several laws approved by state legislators this year. One law restricts transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming students’ and teachers’ ability to use the bathrooms of their choice. Another bars teachers from asking students for their pronouns and states that they can’t be required to use students’ and other teachers’ pronouns if they don’t align with their sex assigned at birth. It also bars teachers from sharing their pronouns if they don’t align with their sex assigned at birth. At the July 19 meeting, they also approved Black history standards that critics called a big step backward as it attempts to put a positive spin on slavery. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) defended this new school curriculum saying slavery gave Black people a personal benefit because they developed skills. He said, “I think that they’re probably going to show some of the folks that eventually parlayed being a blacksmith into doing things later in life.”
