Analyzing Florida’s LGBTQIA+ Censorship Laws and their Anti-Democratic Attack on Education

The past four years (2021-2024) have seen an increase in academic censorship laws and anti-LGTBQIA+ rhetoric across the United States. Florida, specifically, has established itself as a leader in discriminatory legislation. In this paper, the author analyzes four Florida laws: HB 1557, HB 1069, HB 7, and SB 266, along with the rise in book bans to consider both the pedagogical effects and negative impacts on the LGBTQIA+ community. These analyses will be juxtaposed with extant political rhetoric around these laws to expose a) the intent of the law b) the contradictions within and across laws and thereby c) the ideological underpinnings of the legislation. By targeting educational spaces, both K-12 and higher education, legislators have sought to suppress the LGBTQIA+ community, strip them of their rights and autonomy, and foster a discriminatory and hateful environment from a young age. Anti-LGBTQIA+ sentiments within legislation are not new and represent a documented history in Florida and the nation, where accusations against marginalized groups like the LGBTQIA+ community are presented as an effort to save or protect children. The agenda of these laws are not about saving or protecting children from so-called indoctrination or grooming. Rather, by attacking educational freedom, they aim to restrict and control curriculum central to the wellbeing of the LGBTQIA+ community and deny all students the knowledge needed for harmonious co-existence in an inclusive and pluralistic democracy. This paper is written from the point of view of a Florida doctoral candidate, educator, and scholar of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.