TALLAHASSEE – Students will now need to present parental permission in order to go by a nickname in school, thanks to the latest in a series of controversial state education laws. HB 1069, passed by the state legislature in May, is designed to crack down on expressions of personal identity in school.
The direct impact of this policy is that students who are transitioning their gender or identify as transgender will be made to go by their full given name without parental approval. This policy has been derided by leading LGBTQ+ advocacy groups in Florida, while being praised by many social conservatives. The side effect seems to be that even simple abbreviations, such as Nick from Nicholas or Aly from Alexis, also require written permission.
Orange County has already begun sending permission forms home to parents. “As an example, if the student is named Robert, but likes to be called the nickname Rob, the form must be filled out authorizing teachers and other personnel to call Robert the nickname Rob,” the form says.
In addition to students’ names, the legislation also gives faculty and other students the explicit authorization to refer to a student by the pronouns corresponding with their biological sex, even if that student requests otherwise. The student can still be referred to by a name corresponding to a different gender, but only with parental permission.
“Florida is proud to lead the way in standing up for our children,” said Governor Ron DeSantis in a statement that coincided with the bill’s signing. “As the world goes mad, Florida represents a refuge of sanity and a citadel of normalcy.”
“This proposal puts the legal liability on the individual educator, putting their professional license on the line if they violate this new proposed policy,” said Equality Florida’s Brandon Wolf in an interview with Education Week. “And so it’s no longer about parents holding individual districts accountable. And instead [it’s] about teachers fearing that they’re going to lose their jobs and not be able to be educators anymore.”
Shelly Murray
August 13, 2023 at 6:02 pm
This is so stupid. in the scheme of things all of the social b******* is not going to make a hills bit of difference when they are on their own and worrying about their actual survival, paying bills owning their own things, etc. thank you news media and other radicals in the space for making this such an important issue on our youth when it holds no f****** water in the scheme of things. Nice try as far as clouding their minds with useless b*******. It is not needed nor is it wanted. That is all
SharonA
August 13, 2023 at 6:28 pm
Seriously? Protecting our kids? Not likely! All he wants to protect are his delicate sensibilities!! He’s so afraid that white folks might have to own up to bad behavior and that if children learn the truth, they might actually be able to develop critical thinking skills. Then they would know what a tool DeSantis actually is.
Mark
August 13, 2023 at 8:59 pm
This is getting ridiculous, sad to see the mentality of so called adults become so diminished.
TR
August 13, 2023 at 10:13 pm
This is starting to get out of hand. BTW Rob is not a nickname for Robert it is just a shout version. To me a nickname is something that describes a persons personality, height, weight etc. For instance, when I was in school there was a class mate that EVERYONE called Tiny. The funny thing was he was 6″ taller than everyone in out class and weight about 30 lbs more so we all called him Tiny and he loved it. There was another person with an above happy attitude every day and we called him Happy and she liked it as well. In fact when someone called he by her real name (Laura) she use to say I’m Happy, thank you very much. So that’s a nickname not a shortening of ones name. Again I say this is getting out of hand and is stupid IMO.
Holly HICKS
August 13, 2023 at 10:15 pm
This man and this state is getting out of control.
Michelle
August 14, 2023 at 8:59 am
I think it’s more to address a nickname “Sally” for someone born with the name of Sam. The parent will have to be in consent with what the child would want the teacher to address them as.
Anna Bystrik
August 14, 2023 at 2:28 pm
blame trans propaganda, not our Governor! because of trans propaganda we cannot even say man and woman but must specify xy chromosomes to mean males and xx chromosomes to mean females: *this* is indeed the insanity, triggered by trans propaganda.