PBC schools will go ahead with LGBTQ+ History Month recognition

Miami-Dade among Fla. districts that will not

Palm Beach County Schools will continue to recognize LGBTQ+ History Month while other school districts around Florida choose not to, school leaders said Wednesday night.

Superintendent Mike Burke said the district will proclaim October as LGBTQ+ History Month at its Oct. 18 school board meeting. Proclamations are often read by school board members and recognize meaningful events such as Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15), Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month (April) and Overdose Awareness Month (August).

But responding for the second year in a row to pressure from conservative activists and state politicians aiming to restrict classroom instruction on gender and sexuality, Miami-Dade County school leaders voted last week not to mark LGBTQ+ History Month.

“We have to focus on what our core responsibility is, which is to educate our students on their core subjects — math, English, sciences, history,” Robert Alonso, a Miami-Dade County school board member who voted no on the measure, told Miami’s NBC 6.

In Palm Beach County, school leaders have tried to maintain the status quo and follow the law, while board members say they’re trying to avoid “overreacting” to each new edict from the legislature or the state Board of Education. For example, Palm Beach County has had very few book challenges in comparison with other Florida counties — just one formal challenge and five informal complaints in the past year. None resulted in book removals.

School leaders faced pressure from public speakers from inside the classroom and out on Wednesday night. They urged the board to hold fast in its recognition of LGBTQ+ history. Giving in, speakers said, will erase students’ identities and potentially lifesaving