Second Grade Students Confused By Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Law

Last week, a second-grader in Florida with his two mothers had lunch at Sikes Elementary School in Lakeland when he overheard two teachers say that the state legislature had just passed the “Don’t Say Gays” bill. “.

“It’s something they don’t talk about because when they talk about ‘Don’t Say Gay,’ they’re technically talking about being gay,” Sawyer Robbins, 8, noted to The Daily Beast today. Monday .

The boy understood that the bill meant the teacher would not be able to discuss a family like him at school.

“What if someone’s parents are gay?” he asks. “You can’t talk about your parents because they’re gay.”

News regarding the bill triggered a recent memory.

“The first thing that comes to mind is what happened not long ago,” he said. “I told my friend about my parents before this happened and he doesn’t know what being lesbian means. So I told him what it meant. I said to him, ‘That means when a girl marries a girl.’ He said, ‘It’s weird.’ I said, “It’s not their fault that they love each other.”

He added, “But now if [a friend] didn’t know what it was, I couldn’t tell him. I can’t even have the same conversation we had because [of] Don’t Say Gay bill. “

Sawyer gave his considered opinion on the legislation that Governor Ron DeSantis has signed into law since.

“That was stupid,” he said. “It needs to go away because people can feel left out and can feel really sad and things. Everyone should be able to love people and be able to talk about it in school. “

When Sawyer understood the law, even a kind teacher who noted that a student was feeling excluded would not be able to say anything.

“Because it’s a rule,” said Sawyer,

He was speaking to The Daily Beast in the presence of one of his two mothers, Kallie Robbins. She realized the irony when her son learned that a Republican majority had passed a measure banning teaching and effectively any teacher-led discussion regarding gender and sexuality in class. kindergarten and third grade.

Kallie recounted that Sawyer was extremely suspicious when he left Sikes Primary School last week.

“Did it really pass?” he asks.

“That’s right,” Kallie recalled telling him.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Sawyer said in his recollection.

“I really hope it won’t,” she told him. “But it’s Florida, so I don’t have much hope.”

The conversation between Sawyer and Kallie continued over the next few days. She said the bill soon exposed her son to homophobia and made others feel different.

“It broke my heart,” Kallie said.

Gender and sexuality were seen as a much larger issue than they were in that era.

“Before, it was, ‘Oh, my mom is gay,’ and that was it,” Kallie recalls. “But now he has all these competing thoughts, like ‘Is my mom going to die?’ He frankly asked me, ‘So are you going to hell?’ I was like, “I’m driving a pickup truck there… but for different reasons.”

She recalls a time almost a decade ago when her oldest son, John, now 14, came home with something he had learned outside of the classroom.

“One day, I think it was first grade, and he said, ‘Mom, did you know boys can marry boys? And that meant they were gay,” she recalls. “And I said, ‘Dude, how many mothers do you have?’ And he ‘Like, well two.’ And I was like, ‘So your mom is married to your other mom. That means we’re gay too. ‘ And he was like, ‘What? ‘”

Since then, she has been more open with all of her five children, including 10-year-old Charlotte, 6-year-old Harry and 4-year-old Henry.

“I was honest with my kids,” she said. “It’s like when they start school, I say, ‘You know, people are going to question you having two mothers and that’s okay. You can tell them about us. And you know, there are people who don’t understand it. And there will be people who don’t like it… And all we can do is rise above it. We can be better and show them, you know, we’re not that different. Our family is like their family. ‘”

She added, “We’ll have play dates and the kid will ask, ‘Why do you guys have two moms? ” And I simply told them, ‘You know, every family is different. Some families have mom and dad, some families just have moms, some families just have dads and some people. there’s two moms and two dads. It’s just family.’ I never had a kid get upset or anything. They just said ‘Okay’ and ran off. Why can’t we? leave it at that? Because kids, they’re born to love. They don’t just openly and hate gay people.”

As huge fans of Disney, the family is delighted by the stance the company has taken to finally go against the new law. Sawyer’s favorite part of Disney World is Tomorrowland, and he predicts a bright future.

“I think it will be great,” he said. “We’ll probably have like skateboards and definitely have the tallest new building.”

He suggested that the Florida of the future might come to his senses and reconsider the “No gay talk” law.

“And get rid of it,” he said.

He agreed when a reporter argued that the bill was a step backwards.

“It’s kind of like how people are racist,” Sawyer said.

A current measure defined by the new law came from another of Kallie’s children when she picked them up from school on Monday. Charlotte overhears Kallie telling Sawyer that a reporter is going to interview him about the law.

“She invested with her two cents. “Kallie reported. “She was talking about her teacher telling them that being gay just means being happy now.”