The scene said it all.

Surrounded by students in blue uniform shirts and plaid ties, some holding “Protect Children” signs, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 1557 — the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” legislation that is nationally castigated as divisive and damaging to the mental and physical well-being of Florida students. The bill signing Monday was staged at a charter school founded by the wife of his top education official, Richard Corcoran.

It was a safe space for the governor. He laughed and handed the blue markers he was using to the children clustered around him.

But you have to wonder about those children. How many of them will remember this event? How many will come to realize that, as they fidgeted and stared at the dark-haired man with the Sharpie pens, he was enacting a law meant to intimidate teachers who might offer support to LGBTQ+ students and convince those students their voices should be silenced?

Not because the students, or their teachers, were doing anything wrong. But because it was politically advantageous for Florida lawmakers and the governor to wield vicious lies, spinning false visions of child predators and erasing the identities of students who don’t conform to heterosexual norms.

So much has been said about the wreckage that this new law will create. There’s the immeasurable but seemingly inevitable economic damage as companies remove Florida from their lists for potential expansion or relocation. The move put many of Florida’s biggest corporations in the crosshairs of controversy, and many — including Disney, which recently trumpeted inclusion as one of its keys to guest relations — added to the trauma by not speaking out in a timely and decisive fashion. Those companies stayed silent when they should have been demanding the return of campaign contributions from politicians who chose to capitalize on hate.

There are the local taxpayers who will bear the expense and pain of litigation spawned by this law. And that litigation will be coming. A Politico story published Tuesday detailed the involvement of groups that helped write the legislation, including the Child & Parental Rights Campaign, which is suing school districts across the country. This bill was crafted as a cudgel to be wielded through courtrooms.

The new law allows parents to sue school boards over any teacher-led discussions of gender identity or sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade. Those discussions aren’t taking place, Florida education leaders have said. However, the bill goes on to ban any discussions with older students that are not “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate” — a highly subjective standard.

The new law was stripped of its most corrosive language, which could have required school officials to “out” students who identify as LGBTQ+ at school. But it does force schools to notify parents if a student needs additional services for “mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being” — ignoring the fact that family strife, including anger or denial over a child’s sexuality, is a heartbreakingly common cause of depression or suicidal thoughts.

And that goes to the heart of the anguish that will be caused by this bill. It is aimed directly at students who are suffering because of their sexuality. Lawmakers might have been offended by outspoken students like Winter Park High School student Maddie Zornek, who helped stage that school’s protest walkout and said in a letter to the Orlando Sentinel “This bill is a direct target of the LGBTQ+ community. It is riddled in homophobia and bigotry and it has no place in our schools.”

They certainly overlooked the outspoken trepidation of Ellie Zucker, a Broward eighth-grader, who told the Sun Sentinel: “This law being passed basically says we are not allowed to speak to teachers in class who can help me find my way when I’m really lost and really sad about being myself. I feel like my rights are being taken away as a human being.”

But those students, at least, feel confident enough to speak out. There are so many more who remain silent out of fear — or have already suffered rejection due to their sexuality. They are the ones who will suffer the most.

Before signing this bill, DeSantis did not meet with any of the courageous students leading the protests. He did not talk to mental health professionals about why gender-divergent youth are at high risk for suicide. He didn’t visit shelters for LGBTQ+ students who have been thrown away by their parents. He didn’t curb the scurrilous dishonesty of his chief spokeswoman, who has repeatedly connected non-heterosexual orientation to pedophilia.

Instead, this governor — who has often said how much he despises political theater — sat down in front of students holding signs that said “Protect Children” and signed legislation that actively, knowingly, purposefully puts children in danger.

Those children, used as scene-setting pawns in a fight they don’t understand, may someday feel shame. We doubt DeSantis will. But he should.

Editorial by the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board 

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