Left and right have failed democracy in theater over Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill

There’s no hiding the fact that the current state of American politics is rife with hostility – divided along partisan lines, propelled by misguided and misinformed activism, and an onslaught of disillusioned complacency. Though, what we have all seen in recent headlines regarding Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill, HB 1557, is yet another example of overtly partisan posturing and a stab into the heart of democracy.

As is the case with many so-called ‘hot button’ issues (abortion, guns, school boards, CRT…the list goes on), the real issue at hand in HB 1557 is lost in the clouds of heated rhetoric and dangerous hyperbole.

To my friends on the Left, their use of hyperbolic messaging against this bill — regardless of their motivation — is a failure of democracy. For instance, the word ‘gay’ does not appear at all in the text of the bill and the phrase ‘sexual orientation’ appears only twice. Also of important note, the bill applies only to the youngest groups of students – kindergarten through third grade. Couple these facts with the onslaught of misplaced activism displayed on media networks, activists, leaders, and media elites failed the American people by creating a faux crisis.

Though, let me be very clear, any piece of legislation that even seems to discriminate against or single out a single group should be analyzed with the strongest, most ethical scrutiny. The language of the bill may not explicitly harm or discriminate against any LGBTQ+ student, but concerns regarding the broad, vague language are aptly valid. I also find grave concern with the fact that HB 1557 allows parents to ‘decline…consent’ to mental health services (although, the bill follows this with a clause stating that it ‘does not prohibit a school district from adopting procedures that permit school personnel to withhold such information from a parent if a reasonable prudent person would believe that disclosure would result in abuse, abandonment, or neglect”).

Those who admonished the controversial legislation with such a hyperbolic, click-bait name failed gay students – they failed democracy. Those on the left who misconstrued the Parental Rights in Education Act as some war on gay teens are the liberal equivalents to the bewildering conservatives shouting about their guns being snatched from their hands. In fact, many of the plaintiffs in a suit against the state, following Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signing of the bill into law, are high school-aged students that would not be impacted from the sexual orientation and gender identity instruction provisions of the bill.

Those students and advocates suing the state against the bill fail to address the very blatant student mental health risks this bill poses by allowing parents to decline mental health treatment — failing Florida students by ignoring the opportunity for conversations on student mental health. Those Republicans using this bill to gain admiration from homophobic and bigoted voters — leaning into to hate LGBTQ+ students face across the Nation daily — have failed morally.

All of that to say, our democracy is — and has been at risk. Our democracy will only further stagnate, and our public policy suffer so long as our political discourse occurs only in 140-character tweets and primetime headlines. So long as policy makers pit Americans against each other by misconstruing and distorting truth for their own deceptive ambitions, solutions are ignored, dialogue obliterated, and democracy mocked.

Is HB 1557 a good bill? No, it is overly broad, a risk to student health, and ultimately a haphazard political token. That does not excuse the media and liberal leaders from their outright dangerous, irresponsible rhetoric misconstruing the actual language and implication of the bill.

There are no winners in [partisan] war.

Brandon Cooper is a senior political science major at the University of Louisville. He has worked in the Kentucky House of Representatives and the Louisville Metro Council. Brandon will begin a graduate program at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management in the Fall.