Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg agreed Friday on “The View” that Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill “will kill” LGBTQ kids.
His husband Chasten said in January that the then-proposed legislation that prohibits discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3 “will kill kids,” citing that 42% of LGBTQ kids contemplated suicide in the previous year. Co-host Ana Navarro asked if the Transportation Secretary if he agrees with his husband’s previous statement.
This will kill kids, @RonDeSantisFL. You are purposefully making your state a harder place for LGBTQ kids to survive in. In a national survey (@TrevorProject), 42% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide last year. Now they can’t talk to their teachers? https://t.co/VtfFLPlsn3
— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chasten) January 20, 2022
“He’s right, and I think every law ought to be judged for the effect it’s gonna have on real people in real life,” he said. “And I get the political reasons why they’re doing this. By the way, some of those political reasons … they don’t have a plan on anything else. They don’t have a plan on dealing with inflation or dealing with gas prices or dealing with the issues of the day.”
He claimed the bill will “hurt people” as children with LBGTQ parents will not be allowed to talk about their personal lives. He then questioned whether the teacher is supposed to “tear out the page” of a book containing images of same-sex couples.
“They’re doing this because they don’t have answers on the issues that people actually are asking about, so I’m focused on just trying to deliver,” he continued. “They can keep trying to go out there and ban books; we’re going out there figuring out how to build bridges, literally, in every part of the country.”
The Transportation Secretary called the lawmakers who passed the legislation “bullies” in a message to LGBTQ children that “they are not alone.” (RELATED: Gov. DeSantis Calls Out Disney Supporting ‘Sexualizing Kindergarteners’ And ‘Lining Their Pockets’ Off The CCP)
“The biggest thing is you’re not alone. It is hard to be, especially a middle schooler, even if you’re not LGBTQ+ it’s hard,” he said. ” And you throw that in and you think about what those kids are up against … and there might be bullies in your school. You don’t need bullies in the statehouse adding to that. And so the biggest thing I want these kids to know is not only are you not alone, you’ve got a lot of people who have your back.”
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the legislation into law March 28 which also requires school districts to notify parents of changes to their child’s physical, mental or emotional health, except in cases of child abuse. The bill also gives parents the right to opt their child out of school health services.
Opponents have dubbed the legislation the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, though it does not indicate that school administrators or students are forbidden from saying the word “gay.”