Florida GOP Chair Encourages 'Perverted' Don’t Say Gay Opponents to Leave State

As the leader of the Republican Party in Florida welcomed an exodus of “perverted” supporters of sexual education in K-12 schools, a new study showed three out of five parents surveyed in the state have considered leaving since the passage of the “don’t say gay” Parental Rights in Education Act.

The study, entitled “Perspectives of Florida Parents on HB1557, the Parental Rights in Education Act” and authored by Abbie E. Goldberg, was published by the Williams Institute, an LGBTQ+ research center at the University of California Los Angeles Law School. The study found 40 percent of those interviewed considered leaving the state following the passage of the bill, including 53 percent of Democrats and 40 percent of independents. Democrats currently account for 33.3 percent of registered voters in the state versus 37.1 percent for Republicans. Independents account for six percent of registered voters with smaller party affiliations accounting for the remainder of the registered voters in 2023.

Overall, the majority of those interviewed supported the language of the bill. The chairman of the Florida Republican Party Christian Ziegler used the survey to slander those who don’t support the “don’t say gay” law and considered leaving the state.

“Over 60 percent of voters support the actual language in the law, including 55 percent of Democrats,” Ziegler told the Washington Examiner. “With that said, if a Democrat voter is passionate and perverted enough to support the sexualization of kids during school in grades as early as kindergarten, then I would agree that Florida is probably not the best fit for them.”

The survey found that an overwhelming 89 percent of Republicans supported the law, compared to 47 percent of Independents and only 29 percent of Democrats.

“Those who disagreed with the Act emphasized their belief that children needed to learn about gender and sexuality and all types of people,” the survey found. “They also voiced concern about a push towards fascism within their state and government overreach.”

The study was authored by Abbie E. Goldberg, a professor in the Department of Psychology and director of Women’s & Gender Studies at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.

“It is important to understand the diverse viewpoints Florida parents have around the state’s Don’t Say Gay law,” Goldberg said in a statement. “These parents live in the same neighborhoods and send their children to the same schools. They have the power to work across differences to build strong communities that support the well-being of all children.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the controversial HB1557 into law on March 28, 2022, and the law took effect on July 1 last year. The law and more recent extensions prohibits the discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in Florida public schools through graduation in grade 12.

The study was limited to adults recruited for the study who were currently living in Florida with at least one child under the age of 18 at the time of the survey which took place March 22-24, 2023. The survey used the responses from 105 individuals and had more cis women than cis men (61 to 44 respectively) and more Democrats than Republicans (45 to 26). Eight parents surveyed said they had at least one LGBTQ+ child including two with trans or nonbinary children.