ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A controversial bill is awaiting the signature of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The expanded "Parental Rights in Education" bill follows a Republican effort to curb or eliminate conversations on gender and sexual identity in classrooms.
If DeSantis signs an expanded version of the Parental Rights in Education Act, it will prohibit school employees from asking students for their preferred pronouns and from sharing their own preferred pronouns if they don't align with biological sex.
The bill's sponsors write within the legislation that it would be "false to ascribe" a person with a pronoun that "does not correspond to such person's sex."
Dr. Anna Margiotta, an AP Chemistry teacher at St. Petersburg High School, is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. They say the bill makes them sad and scared for the future.
"I feel like everything in this state is screaming at me to leave," Margiotta said. "I don't know what I would do. I feel like I don't want to just defy what the rule would be and introduce myself with my pronouns, but I don't want to be referred to with she/her pronouns."
For them, an effort to use preferred pronouns is a sign of respect for their identity.
"To hear people using my pronouns, it shows me that, at the very least, they want me to feel comfortable, and I am seen as a human being," Margiotta said.
Now, they're stuck deciding whether to give up their dream to teach in the state where they were raised and where their family and friends are, in order to be true to themself.
"I'm not hurting anyone, and I'm really good at my job. I'm overqualified for my job. I have a Ph.D. in Chemical Education. They want me to be here if they care about the achievement gap," Margiotta said.
Now, they say all trans and non-binary teachers will face a tough decision.
"Teachers will either have to go back into the closet, or move, or decide to challenge this one way or another. Whatever it is that they do, that's going to be a hard and scary task," Margiotta explained.
On Wednesday, Florida Republicans approved this bill and another to ban diversity programs in colleges, building on the top priorities of DeSantis.
The two proposals were given final passage by the Republican supermajorities in the House and Senate. DeSantis is expected to sign the bills into law.
The state's Legislative session, scheduled to end this week, has been dominated by divisive cultural issues, with Republican allies of DeSantis approving his priority bills on sexual orientation, gender identity, race and education that are expected to aid the governor in his presidential bid.
The Parental Rights in Education Act also bans classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation up to the 8th grade, legally reinforcing a DeSantis administration move to prohibit such lessons in all grades. Additionally, the bill strengthens the system in which people can lodge challenges against school books, another DeSantis initiative that has led to the removal of material he and his supporters argue are inappropriate for children.
“Think about what we’re doing, honestly. Think about how this will affect families that don’t look like yours,” said Sen. Tracie Davis, a Democrat. "They're still families. They're Florida families. But we’re treating them like they're outsiders and we’re telling them we don’t want them here.”
Republicans said the bill is intended to shield children from sexualized content and reinforce that teachers should conform to existing state curriculums.
“You see society coming at our children in a culture war that has an agenda to make them confused," Republican Sen. Erin Grall said. “We are depriving children of the ability to figure out who they are when we push an agenda, a sexualized agenda, down onto children.”
In the statehouse, Democrats, who have no power to stop the Republican legislation, have increasingly begun to vent over the rightward shift in policy emanating from the GOP.
“The message that resonates from this chamber over the last few years is one of hate and exclusion and punishment,” said Democratic Sen. Jason Pizzo. “There is very little grace and very little compassion.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.