Miami school board again rejects proposal to recognize LGBTQ history month
Last year, Miami schools rejected LGBTQ history month. They just did it again.
A proposal to recognize October as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer history month in Miami-Dade public schools went down in flames last year. On Wednesday night, advocates set their sights on a do-over, hoping they wouldn’t meet the same fierce opposition this time around.
After a 13-hour school board meeting, a revised version of the proposal failed in a 5-3 vote. The meeting reportedly stretched into early Thursday morning, drawing dozens of supporters and opponents - including a contingent of Proud Boys, the right-wing hate group, according to the Miami Herald.
Last year’s vote was a much sharper rebuke - the measure failed 8-1 at the time. Both votes have come at a time when Gov. Ron DeSantis and conservative legislators seek to diminish LGBTQ instruction in Florida schools.
DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education Act - dubbed by critics the “Don’t Say Gay” bill - into law last March curtailing discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in Florida schools. The law initially applied only to kindergarten through third grade, until this summer, when the Republican governor expanded parts of it to apply through high school. He enacted those measures in tandem with bans on gender-affirming care for minors.
Sarah Kate Ellis, the president and CEO of GLAAD - the world's largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization - said in a statement to Paste BN that “Florida's extremist leaders are obsessed with erasing history.”
“LGBTQ people have always been here, in our families, workplaces, schools and neighborhoods, and their visibility and contributions have expanded freedoms for every American,” she said. “Banning books and heritage months won't change these facts.”
In 2021, prior to the passage of the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, the proposal to recognize LGBTQ history month in Miami-Dade schools passed easily. And just this week, commissioners in Lake Worth Beach, Fla. solidified their community as a safe place for LGBTQ+ people, voting unanimously to declare the city a safe haven for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual people.
The revived measure, proposed by Miami-Dade school board member Lucia Baez-Geller, would have directed the superintendent to support policies and practices to “respect and support LGBTQ students, employees, and families throughout the school year.” Some, however, feared passing such a proposal would violate provisions of the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law.
“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 school board member who voted no on the measure, told NBC 6.
Lucia Baez-Geller, the school board member who sponsored the proposal, told USA Today it failed because of an “anti-LGBTQ agenda” fueled by “misinformation.” She didn’t get home after the meeting until 3 a.m. Thursday morning, and she commended the students and parents who also spent the night supporting the measure.
“Last night, our students showed up en masse,” she said. “They carpooled, drove, took public transportation, whatever they could do to fight for their lives, and it’s unfortunate that they have to be put in these positions.”
She said she’s open to putting the proposal on the agenda again next year.