The Florida Legislature’s anti-mask, anti-vax, anti-LGBTQ ‘bill of rights’

The nation can reach herd immunity from COVID-19 only by vaccinating as many Americans as possible. So why would any state consider enabling those who resist the vaccine?

Welcome to the Florida Legislature.

Last week, the state House passed the so-called Parental Bill of Rights. The legislation states, “The state, any of its political subdivisions, any other governmental entity, or any other institution may not infringe on the fundamental rights of a parent to direct the upbringing, education, health care, and mental health of his or her minor child without demonstrating that such action is reasonable and necessary to achieve a compelling state interest and that such action is narrowly tailored and is not otherwise served by a less restrictive means.”

Anyone who follows the Republican-led Legislature closely will suspect that such high-minded wording conceals the true intent of the bill. We believe that those suspicions are well-founded.

The sponsor of House Bill 241 is state Rep. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach. This is the third straight year she has tried to get the legislation approved. Last year, it also got through the House but died in the Senate.

This year’s Senate version, Senate Bill 582, has passed the required three committees and awaits a vote by the full chamber. Every vote has been almost entirely along party lines, with Republicans in support and Democrats opposed.

We wonder why Republicans consider this bill necessary. As the legislative staff analysis of HB 241 acknowledges, state law already specifies 24 parental rights, “most of which are duplicated in the bill.”

But this legislation also appears to allow parents to challenge a school district’s policy on matters related to public health. If the bill became law, a parent could object to policies on moral grounds.

That could apply not just to issues such as sex education but also to vaccines.

Grall has support from anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers.

Among the groups backing the bill is Moms for Liberty, co-founded by Indian River School Board member Tiffany Justice. As member of the Indian River County School Board, Justice claimed that the district’s mask requirement for students violated the Florida Constitution. She lost in court.

HB 241 is so broadly written that Justice and like-minded, science-challenged parents could seek to exempt their children from mask mandates that protect everyone on campus. Mask wearing will remain important, especially in public indoor spaces, until we reach herd immunity.

And there’s more. The bill could strip privacy protections for LGBTQ students.

HB 241 also states, “The Legislature further finds that important information relating to a minor child should not be withheld, either inadvertently or purposefully, from his or her parent, including information relating to the minor child’s health, well-being, and education, while the minor child is in the custody of the school district.”

During testimony, LGBTQ advocates noted that such language could harm students who might confide in a teacher about their sexual orientation before they are ready to speak with a parent. Jonathan Mower of Equality Florida said the bill “could compel schools to out LGBTQ youth who are facing unsupportive or dangerous household environments.”

Kara Gross, legislative director of ACLU Florida, told USA Today Network, “The single goal of this bill is to inject a certain viewpoint into our educational system. It’s a viewpoint that does not believe in science and it is one that is offended by the very existence of LGBTQ individuals.”

This year’s version of the bill seems fueled especially by issues in Grall’s home county of Indian River and in Brevard County to the north. In March, the Brevard County School District updated its policy to “ensure the safety of every student,” including those who identify as LGBTQ.

That meant, among other things, bathrooms or “appropriate accommodations that are consistent with their gender identity.” Last week, opponents of that policy gathered at the home of Brevard School Board member Jennifer Jenkins to protest, carrying signs that read “two genders & one crazy-evil school board” and “LGBTQ agenda is ungodly,” according to Florida Today. In November, Jenkins defeated incumbent Tina Descovich, who co-founded Moms for Liberty with Justice, giving this protest the appearance of the jilted Descovich siccing her dogs on a political opponent.

Grall has become the House culture warrior on behalf of Floridians like

Descovich and Justice. She also has sponsored House Bill 1221, which would prohibit a woman from obtaining an abortion based on genetic disorder. There would be an exception to protect the life of the mother but no exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.

“Genetic testing for the purpose of ending human life is eugenics,” Grall stated during a committee hearing on HB 1221. “The practice of manipulating the human population through abortion should be treated as an abomination and banned.”

Nothing in the bill would provide help for women forced to raise a disabled child. Grall and others dismiss those consequences as blithely as they dismiss the idea of unintended consequences from the Parents Bill of Rights.

That legislation, like so many others in Tallahassee, seeks to fix a problem that does not exist. Nothing in the analysis cites problems in the current system. It simply restates the right of parents to “direct their minor child’s upbringing, education and care.”

Last year, the Senate saved Florida from this legislation. This year, for the sake of public health and the well-being of LGBTQ youth, the Senate must do so again.