The “protection of children” has been at the forefront of Republican lawmakers’ minds this legislative session (or so they say) with the introduction of a slew of anti-LGBTQ bills targeting gender-affirming healthcare, drag performances, and classroom discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation.
And, on a local level, protecting children has also been a priority for members of the Orange County School Board.
Albeit in a different way.
During a rule development workshop on Tuesday focused on redeveloping policy regarding classroom and library materials in Orange County Public Schools to be in compliance with state law, school board members spent over an hour reaffirming their commitment to the protection of LGBTQ students, in response to comments from first-term board member Alicia Farrant, a member of the conservative activist group Moms for Liberty.
As Florida school districts face a rising number of challenges to the presence of LGBTQ-themed books in schools, Farrant said the Orange County school district has gone “above and beyond” in affirming LGBTQ youth — to a fault.
“I think this district has done a good job of making sure that kids all feel included,” Farrant said. “But there is a great push for everyone in the community to align with the beliefs of the LGBT community.”
"To constantly bring it back to making sure that the LGBT community feels uplifted, I think this district has done, you know, gone above and beyond," she added.
This didn't go over well.
Farrant was, in essence, responding to testimony from Clinton McCracken, a middle school art teacher and president of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association, who spoke during the meeting’s public comment portion just minutes before.
McCracken, whose union represents 14,000 teachers and school staff across the county, shared a personal story to emphasize the importance of retaining books in schools that reflect the diverse backgrounds of students, including LGBTQ youth.
“I was a victim of indoctrination when I was a young child, which created significant trauma,” said McCracken, pointedly repurposing the language of right-wing politicians like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “My school and my community were unsafe places for me, and although there were physical assaults, too, the daily, hidden but pervasive attacks were much worse, telling me I was alone in this world, that who I was and what I felt was abnormal — that I didn't belong.
“This is because I didn't see any LGBTQ role models in my community,” he said. “I never read about any characters like me in a single book in elementary, middle or high school.”
School board chair and former Orange County mayor Teresa Jacobs, in discussion afterwards, agreed with the sentiment shared by McCracken, and said the board should in the future discuss what they can do to ensure kids have access to books that reflect their diverse experiences and identities.
But Farrant, who has a history of complaining about the presence of books with LGBTQ themes in schools, made a point of saying that indoctrination “can go quite a few ways” and that there are other children in the school district as well who deserve attention.
“We have an entire month for them [LGBTQ people] not only in June, but also in October,” said Farrant. “Many in our community feel that, you know, we can — let’s look at the children as a whole, and let's focus on their character development, not necessarily what sexuality they have, or maybe religion they have or, you know, where they maybe originated from.”
This earned her swift pushback from her colleagues.
“We lift up everyone,” board member Angie Gallo asserted, adding that while all children deserve attention, it’s important to lift up children who are marginalized, on account of poverty or any other life circumstances. Retaining books in school libraries that are accessible and which represent their experiences, she said, can be part of that.
First-term board member Maria Salamanca, a Latina woman who identifies as LGBTQ, added that 40% of books banned in U.S. schools contain LGBTQ characters or themes, and 40% have had a protagonist of color, demonstrating clear disparities.
The very policy necessitating their workshop on Tuesday is a "Trojan horse" she said, "to get rid of books of students of color of LGBTQ youth and of religious minorities."
Allowing a diversity of books on school shelves isn’t “forcing” children to adopt any sexuality or racial identity, she added, despite claims of indoctrination in schools from so-called “parental rights” advocates.
“While I support parents, and I am a very big supporter of parents opting out of inappropriate content that they believe for their child is inappropriate, I do not support other parents telling my kids what they can and can't read at the policy level, at the district level, or the state level because I don't want other parents to parent my children with their values,” Salamanca said.
School board member Melissa Byrd, sharing her own thoughts on Farrant's comments, didn’t mince words.
“It’s hurtful, and it’s insulting,” Byrd said, of Farrant’s claim that LGBTQ youth are prioritized, or held to a “higher standard” above others. “These kids hear every single word that comes out of the mouths of the adults around them, and I would really caution people to be careful about the words they use.”
Jacobs said that anyone who believes LGBTQ students are being prioritized above others probably isn’t aware that queer and trans youth are at a four times higher risk of suicide.
“I’ve always wanted to believe in your heart and that you're here for every student,” Jacobs offered generously, speaking to Farrant. “But sometimes your words suggest that you don't understand quite what it's like to walk in those shoes, and how important it is for us to show our support to our kids.”
Farrant responded to her colleague’s criticism defensively, and also later defended her use of the term "trans whatever" in reference to a theoretical transgender student during a January school board meeting.
And finally, here is Alicia doubling down on her transphobia once again by saying “whatever we’re calling them. Are they trans? Are they Bi?” She should resign.
— Jen 🏳️🌈 SAY GAY 🏳️⚧️ Cousins (@JenCousinsFL) April 4, 2023
Thank you to the rest of the @OCPSnews Board members who defended our LGBTQ+ and BIPOC students to this bigot. pic.twitter.com/Y6V2fGW8Ox
“Since day one, I've only been attacked,” Farrant complained. “That I am a bigot, that I’m a hater.”
She added, “When parents are coming in, they're frustrated and asking for a higher standard, it is not to marginalize children, or to, you know, make certain children feel like they're not good enough. It is to make sure that they have the best at their fingertips. Books that do not portray their community in a way that is only sexual."
But critics of the rich donor-funded national book ban campaign that Farrant has moved to advance in Orange County call foul on this notion.
According to a tracker from the Florida Freedom to Read Project, a parent-led activist group that's critical of book banning (and Farrant, for that matter), at least 11 books have been challenged or removed from Orange County Public Schools, including Genderqueer (a book Farrant herself challenged) and This Book is Gay.
Both have been labeled “problematic” by the DeSantis administration, which has welcomed the support of groups like Moms for Liberty that have galvanized a wave of book banning across the U.S.
Florida’s new policy governing what materials can and cannot remain in schools has consumed hours upon hours of school boards’ time, including in Orange County.
Classroom and library materials, interpreted as “anything made available to a child in the school” according to OCPS deputy general counsel John Palmerini, cannot be “pornographic,” “harmful to minors,” or “obscene” — the latter two of which are defined the same legally, Palmerini told the school board.
But the new policy, requiring certified media specialists to review and approve all materials, has created confusion and frustration across the state. Some of the terms and procedures the new rules require are vague, or not clearly defined.
Some Florida teachers, in the face of a potential felony charge, have gotten rid of their classroom libraries altogether. Earlier this month, the statewide teachers union filed a petition alongside the Florida Freedom to Read Project and Families for Strong Public Schools, challenging new rules from the state Department of Education on this matter, which they characterize as part of a "censorship agenda" by the DeSantis administration.
McCracken, preside of the Orange County teachers union, said on Tuesday it’s a shame the school board has to spend all of this time updating policies as a result of “unnecessary culture wars” created by DeSantis and Florida lawmakers.
“They could have addressed the teacher shortage crisis, increased the average Florida teacher pay from its abysmal 48th in the country, and focused on school safety,” McCracken said Tuesday. “Instead, we are forced to navigate through these recent laws and their negative impact on our students’ education and our teachers’ ability to do their jobs.”
