BRADENTON, Fla. — Parents all over the world vow to protect their children. Two local parents recently took their fight to Tallahassee with Equality Florida.
ABC Action News Anchor Lauren St. Germain sat down with the two parents – Jessica and Rob – to hear their voice and their concerns.
In Focus:
- Parents express concerns about Florida's "anti-LGBTQ" bills
- South Florida lawmakers on opposite sides of debate
- Lawmakers respond to concerned parents
"I felt my kid was under attack"
“We are just a dad and a mom who have a kid that we are worried about and that’s having a hard time and we are just seeing our freedoms taken away,” said Rob.
“When we were up in Tallahassee, we mostly wanted to speak our peace regarding all of the anti-LGBTQ bills that are trying to go through,” said Jessica.
According to Equality Florida, 22 bills this year target the LGBTQ+ community, and last year it was 16 bills.
“What did you hope to accomplish?” asked St. Germain.
“Really, the reason why I went up there was because I felt my kid was under attack. This is the second year that we’ve seen so many bills targeting a small population, a vulnerable population, and I think any dad worth a salt would do the same thing,” said Rob.
He continued, “It’s tough – as a dad – when I was raising a kid, I didn’t expect to have a transgender child. I didn’t really know anything about it. It was a long journey for me to understand what to do and what that meant and what was best for my kid.”
“It’s important to note we didn’t go through hard times because of our kid’s transgender. It’s mostly because of the government’s reaction to kids who are transgender – like it wasn’t a hard time for him. It was society expectations and things like that that made him feel uncomfortable,” said Jessica.
“And we are on two different sides of the political spectrum, but when it comes to our kid, we are going to support our kid no matter what,” said Rob.
Jessica and Rob are also teachers.
“It breaks my heart that I am not able to be the teacher I was 17 years ago because of these laws. I feel like I am allowed to be less inclusive, less open-minded, and less welcoming now than I was when I began, and that kind of feels like the opposite of progress,” said Jessica.
She continued, “We still do four school shooting drills a year. I feel like that seems to be more of a pressing issue of student safety than books and rainbow flags.”
Local politicians react to bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community
In 2023, two South Florida lawmakers were on opposite sides of the debate about bills some call an assault on LGBTQ+ rights.
Florida’s first openly gay state senator, Shevrin Jones, spoke during an LGBTQ+ rally in Tallahassee.
“We are committed to continuing the fight so that the next Shevrin, Michelle, Carlos, Joe, Brandon, Anna – whoever comes to stand behind this podium – that they won’t have to do it again,” said Sen Shevrin Jones, (D) Miami Gardens.
Representative Randy Fine pushed back against his critics speaking about gender dysphoria treatments in 2023.
“They have a war on children, and we are going to stand up for children. Boys are boys, and girls are girls. We’re not going to subscribe to this fictional nonsense that they’ve come up with. They’re fighting against our children and we’re going to fight back and we are going to beat them,” said Rep. Randy Fine (R) Palm Bay.
Lawmakers respond to parents like Jessica and Rob
“I think that any dad out there, no matter what your voter registration card says, is going to want to fight for their kid,” said Rob.
St. Germain spoke with Representative Fine and State Senator Jones about what parents like Jessica and Rob are doing.
“I would say it seems like fighting for kids is a common theme here. No matter what side you are on, parents want to fight for their kids. So how can you as lawmakers ensure all parents can fight for their kids?” asked St. Germain.
“Parents should fight for their kids. You should advocate whatever you want, come to Tallahassee, and fly whatever flag you want. Parents should come up here to Tallahassee and say what they think and go to school boards and manage their kids’ education,” said Rep. Randy Fine (R) Palm Bay.
“Which parents? Which parents are they okay with fighting for their children? Is it the LGBTQ parents? Is it the Black parent? Is it the immigrant parent? Which parents are they okay with fighting for their children? Because they are speaking out of both sides of their mouth. Because in one voice, they are saying yeah, we want parents to advocate for their child. But yet still they are creating legislation to go against parents and them protecting their children,” said Sen. Shevrin Jones, (D) Miami Gardens.
“I just wanted to put a face to it and let people see the reality of it instead of what they are trying to make it look like,” said Rob.
He continued, “Give us the freedom that we deserve as Americans, and let me love my kid the way I want to and let him grow up and feel safe just like every kid deserves.”
