Miami school board again shuts down LGBTQ month recognition

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — School board members in Miami rejected a proclamation early Thursday morning that would have recognized October as “LGBTQ history month” in the latest example of Florida’s parental rights laws influencing public education.

The decision, which came around 1 a.m. after hours of public comment and debate, illustrates how local education policy has changed since 2021, when Miami-Dade County school board members last acknowledged LGBTQ history month. Over the last two years, the school board in Miami, like many other counties, has been reshaped with candidates aligned with Gov. Ron DeSantis and conservative leaders who support the parental rights policies labeled as “Don’t Say Gay” by opponents.

“This is about someone’s sexual preference, and not a cultural issue,” said Roberto Alonso, a Miami-Dade County school board member endorsed by DeSantis who voted against the recognition. “It’s imposing ideologies and a sexual discussion that should not be happening inside of our schools.”

The recognition was shut down by a 5-3 vote following dozens of public speakers filling the school board auditorium representing both sides of the issue, reminiscent of the scene that played out last year when a similar item was proposed and also denied.

The idea was introduced to herald October as a reminder “to all cultures within our wider community of the important roles that LGBTQ people have taken in shaping the social, historical, legal, and political worlds we live in today.” It specifically stated that the board’s observation would be “in accordance with state and federal law” in hopes of avoiding a confrontation with the controversial parental rights law.

Better known as “Don’t Say Gay,” the policy prohibits teachers from leading instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation to pre-K through grade eight students and was expanded this year to restrict the usage of pronouns in schools. Under a separate Board of Education rule, teachers run the risk of losing their educator credentials for leading instruction on those topics to students through 12th grade. These policies are a key part of Florida’s attempt to root out traces of liberal “indoctrination” in local schools, particularly centered on lessons and books about race and sexuality.

Supporters of the proclamation, such as board member Lucia Baez-Geller who introduced it, claimed that the proposal was a “ceremonial” and “nonbinding” way to support LGBTQ students and families. Opposition to the recognition, according to Baez-Geller, was sparked by the “anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and agenda” from the DeSantis administration and Legislature. She noted that the idea was not seen as controversial when it passed 8-1 two years ago.

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

“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 added.

But the recognition was a nonstarter for the conservative-leaning members of Miami’s school board, including two members endorsed — and donated to — by DeSantis and state Republicans. They claimed the proposal violated the “intent” and “spirit” of the parental rights laws and rejected it in support of parents who want to “avoid the sexualization” of their children. Two other members who voted against the measure were appointed by DeSantis earlier this year.

“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,” said board Vice Chair Danny Espino, a DeSantis appointee.