Safe Schools South Florida Pushes Back On 'Don't Say Gay' Bill
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – As the Florida Senate prepares for a vote on the Parental Rights in Education Bill, some teachers and students wore purple this Tuesday to show solidarity with LGBTQIA students.
"You know we didn't know if anybody would wear purple, we had a lot of social media lead up to it, a lot of retweets a lot of reposts," Safe Schools South Florida Executive Director Scott Galvin said.
Galvin has been working to spread the word and push back against the bill. He even had a plane fly around Miami with the banner: "Defeat Don't Say Gay." Turns out, people from all over, including teachers and students, wore purple across the state.
"We all wore purple in solidarity for people who are going to be affected by this bill and to kind of protest it, we all brought banners my friend brought a huge pride flag," Melanie Curtis said.
Curtis is a sophomore at Miami-Dade County Public Schools. She asked her mom to talk about her feelings to CBS4, and she tells us she was glad to see a strong showing at her school.
"It's such an intimate thing, it's not like you're threatening anyone it's such a personal intimate thing that if you're willing to share with people, you shouldn't be demonized for it, and you shouldn't be outted for it," she explained.
Curtis stands for free speech, and worries for her friends in the LGBTQIA community.
"If I have the resources and I have the time and I have the effort I am going to fight for people's rights, I'm going to keep trying to protest things that I see are wrong," she added.
The bill, otherwise known as the "Don't Say Gay," is highly likely to pass.
"But we want to make sure that we advocate as strongly as possible we're trying to show leadership to the students in our programs showing that one day you should be the elected officials sitting in there making that rule," Galvin told CBS4.
It will be an uphill battle, but Galvin promises the fight will not end, and it will not be alone.
"When you start to see this extended family it really does make you feel encouraged," he said.
The bill is currently awaiting a vote from the Florida Senate before it goes to the governor's desk to be signed into law.
