Sir, – Emer Martin criticises a law introduced by Florida governor Ron DeSantis which she calls the “don’t say gay” law, describing it and other similar measures as part of an “ideological war” which will endanger lives (“In California, we’re watching Ron DeSantis’s assault on LGBTQ+ rights with horror”, Opinion & Analysis, May 23rd). However, she fails to outline what this law entails.
The Parental Rights in Education Bill prohibits teachers from giving lessons to children from kindergarten to third grade (so from ages five to nine) about sexual orientation or gender identity. What exactly does Ms Martin find objectionable about this?
As a gay man, I find it bizarre that anyone would believe that children under the age of nine would be taught about adult sexual relationships of any kind, be they heterosexual or homosexual, let alone that they should be taught about gender conversion therapy or sex change procedures. Opinion polls show strong majority support for the law in Florida, with less than a third of voters against, and I suspect Irish voters would agree.
The fact that such a common-sense law is viewed as dangerous shows how unhinged the discourse on these topics has become, and how increasingly transgender issues are going far beyond what the gay and lesbian movement is willing to be associated with. – Yours, etc,
Matt Williams: Take a deep breath and see how Sam Prendergast copes with big Fiji test
New Irish citizens: ‘I hear the racist and xenophobic slurs on the streets. Everything is blamed on immigrants’
Jack Reynor: ‘We were in two minds between eloping or going the whole hog but we got married in Wicklow with about 220 people’
‘I could have gone to California. At this rate, I probably would have raised about half a billion dollars’
THOMAS RYAN, BL
Harolds Cross,
Dublin 6W.