Ron DeSantis’ Attempt to Erase Trans People From Florida Schools Is Now Underway

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On Monday, the deputy general counsel of Florida’s Orange County Public Schools system sent an email to principals announcing new policies for the upcoming academic year. To implement recently enacted state laws, the email announced, the school district—which encompasses Orlando and serves more than 200,000 students—would be required to target transgender teachers, staff, and students for discriminatory treatment. Transgender teachers may no longer use their preferred pronouns or titles (such as Mr. or Ms.) in class; they must instead use the pronoun and title that corresponds to their “biological sex,” as assigned at birth. Transgender teachers, staff, and students may no longer use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity at school. And transgender “visitors”—including parents, guardians, and students from other districts or states—will face criminal prosecution if they use the bathroom that fits their gender identity on school premises.

The guidance arrives amid a severe teacher shortage in the school district, with hundreds of vacancies left unfilled. It flows directly from two laws passed by Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature, and signed by GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, that mandate discrimination against transgender people throughout the state. Taken together, this slate of legislation appears designed to drive transgender teachers and staff out of the state’s public school system altogether, subjecting them to constant threat of discipline for simply existing as a trans person. It also singles out transgender students for disfavored treatment, isolating them from their classmates and limiting their ability to use the restroom on campus.

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H.B. 1069 and H.B. 1521, the two laws in question, are part of DeSantis’ broader campaign against LGBTQ+ equality, which he equates with the “wokeness” that he seeks to eradicate from Florida. They build upon earlier legislation, including the notorious “Don’t Say Gay” law, that censored discussion of LGBTQ issues, people, and families in the classroom, as well as book bans that disproportionately target LGBTQ-themed literature at public schools. H.B. 1069 states that “it shall be the policy of every public K-12 educational institution” that “a person’s sex is an immutable biological trait and that it is false to ascribe to a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such person’s sex.” The measure compels teachers and staff to identify with the sex that appeared on their original birth certificate—so, for example, a transgender woman must use he/him pronouns and the title of “Mr.” It also gives all teachers, staff, and students the right to misgender trans employees, and forbids teachers from asking for students’ preferred pronouns.

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