Image Instagram/SAVELGBT via OrlandoWeekly.com [retrieved 3-Mar-2022]
It’s been all over the news and on the most recent Saturday Night Live (of 3 Mar 2022).
The Parental Rights In Education Act would restrict Florida schools’ ability to instruct students in Kindergarten through 3rd grade on sexual orientations1 and gender identities2.
This NBC News article, Florida House passes ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, sums up what is wrong with mainstream media reporting and is representative of the various media reporting on the topic.
Showing bias from the get-go, they call the bill “Don’t Say Gay”. That phrase is only used by opponents, and is not the name of the bill, but NBC News uses that name in its headline and body anyway.
Rather than find folks who can have a rational discussion, the article quotes a series of overwrought commenters. An opponent, Florida Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, says that not teaching queer theory to third graders is “yet another attack on our community”. This bill is likely not an attack on their community, but you wouldn’t know that from this article.
Another opponent, Florida Rep. Michael Grieco, said “Anybody who says that this bill is only about kindergarten through third grade is either mistaken or flat-out lying”. While true, that the bill is not only about kindergarten through third grade, the article does not make clear that the ban on sexuality instruction only applies to kindergarten through third grade.
The article cites suicide statistics in the gay youth community, implying, without evidence, that this bill would exacerbate the problem. It doesn’t mention what the level of suicide is among gay 5 to 9 year old’s, or if formal LGBTQ lesson plans at that age would help or worsen the problem.
The article continuously references LGBTQ ‘youths’ without defining what that means. It is likely to be people aged 13 to 24 years old, not 5 to 9 years old. That this is not called out in the article is misleading.
Near the end of the article, they write “President Joe Biden has previously rebuked Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, vowing to “fight for the protections and safety” of LGBTQ youths”. The article doesn’t state what Biden’s problem with the bill is. The implication is if you support Biden, you should be against this bill.
NBC News allows misrepresentations of the bill to be reported as fact and to go unchallenged. Its one-sided coverage extensively quotes opponents of the bill. Proponents are not given the opportunity to counter misleading statements.
The article repeatedly uses the pejorative name “Don’t Say Gay” in its headline and body, rather than the bill’s real name. Can you imagine them publishing an article about Biden’s Build Back Better plan, but instead always referring to it as Biden’s “Build Back Broke” plan. Just kidding – you can’t.