Declaring an LGBTQ history month used to be routine at the Miami-Dade County School Board. It's now turned into a debate.
Tensions rose Wednesday among dozens of protesters from both sides of the issue — including a group wearing Proud Boys memorabilia — outside of Miami-Dade Schools' headquarters as a contentious board meeting went on inside.
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“The board should remove all History Months and focus on teaching kids math, reading and writing," an opponent of the resolution said before the crowd erupted in applause. "Let me ask you, does the school follow Biblical history month?"
“As some detractors here would like to close their eyes and pretend LGBTQ people do not exist, they do," a supporter said.
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Last year, the board majorly opposed an LGBTQ history month. It was last approved in 2021.
Several commissioners opposed the resolution over the state's so-called "Don't Say Gay" law, titled officially as the Parental Rights in Education bill. It specifically prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity for students in kindergarten through third grade.
Board member Lucia Baez-Geller, the resolution's proponent, says it's "ceremonial" and wouldn't violate the Parental Rights in Education Law.
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"Unfortunately, there’s a lot of culture war rhetoric being attached to it that’s giving a lot of misinformation,” Baez-Geller said in a previous interview with NBC6.
Opponents of LGBTQ history month, like CFC Florida, claim it opens the door to "LGBTQ indoctrination."
The measure would have directed the superintendent to explore and provide information and resources to 12th-grade social studies teachers about landmark Supreme Court cases, such as one that recognized same-sex marriage and another that ruled employers couldn't fire workers for being gay or transgender. Teachers were not required to teach the subjects and students could have opted out.
