In 2022 as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was ramping up his war on woke in the public school system and higher education, Democrats and the mainstream media kicked up quite a duststorm over the Parental Rights in Education bill.

The bill, which was signed into law by DeSantis in the spring of 2022, was designed in part to prevent age-inappropriate lesson plans on sexual orientation and gender ideology in K-3 classrooms and enshrined parental rights when it comes to discussions of such sensitive subject matters with children.

At the time, the Usual Suspects on the left and the MSM wrongly dubbed the bill the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, falsely claiming that it prohibited the mere mention of the word “gay” in classroom settings. There were billboards, campaigns, and all the rest from the activist left/media falsely painting Florida to be the “Don’t Say Gay” state.

Disney even infamously got involved.

Here we are two years later, and a settlement has been reached between the DeSantis administration and LGBTQ groups and activists who filed a lawsuit over the law:

The settlement says that students and teachers are allowed to talk about sexual identity and gender orientation in public schools, as long as it is not part of formal classroom instruction.

The plaintiffs claimed victory, saying it would put an end to discrimination that resulted from ambiguities in the law, officially called the Parental Rights in Education Act.

The administration of Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, also portrayed the settlement as a major win, saying it confirmed that critics had willfully misinterpreted the law as applying more broadly than it actually did.

In their statement declaring victory, the DeSantis administration referenced how left-wing activists and the corporate media worked together to undercut the law in the court of public opinion – and failed:

Frequently carrying water for the activists, the media wrote countless stories lying about the intent, design, and application of the law. The activists carried these same lies into the courtroom—thankfully, to no avail.

Their judicial activism has failed. Today’s mutually agreed settlement ensures that the law will remain in effect and it is expected that the case will be dismissed by the Court imminently.

Though the settlement didn’t change one word of the law whatsoever, some media outlets and opinion writers at some notoriously anti-DeSantis news outlets falsely framed it as vindication for how they initially (and wrongly) portrayed the legislation:

BREAKING: Sexual orientation, gender ID can be talked about in Florida classrooms under lawsuit settlement https://t.co/Gng2T2AxJO

— The Associated Press (@AP) March 11, 2024

Say gay, Florida. DeSantis’ homophobic law doesn’t survive court challenge intact | Opinion https://t.co/GmmHwiDWaI

— Miami Herald (@MiamiHerald) March 12, 2024

A settlement clarifying a bill, dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by critics, has been reached in Florida. The change will allow sexual orientation and gender identity to be discussed in classrooms. pic.twitter.com/3zIocLszty

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) March 12, 2024

A lawsuit settlement over Florida’s “don’t say gay” statute announced Monday restores the ability for teachers and students to discuss LGBTQ issues, largely canceling many of the impacts of the signature legislation from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). https://t.co/0FgkUx3w7Z

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 12, 2024

Except… no, as explained by veteran Florida reporter Marc Caputo:

The tweet doesn’t tell you this, but the settlement literally restates what the law clearly says (lede has it right)

I said this @ the time that calling it the “Don’t Say Gay” law was inaccurate. But we kept saying it anyway. Now the settlement proves the name was misleading https://t.co/5jy2niPfc3 pic.twitter.com/VaWoXEYPoI

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) March 11, 2024

When I spoke out in March 2022 about this, I accurately noted the law “doesn’t say don’t say gay” & warned that saying this enabled DeSantis to prove the media doesn’t live up to its own standards

I got chastised by the bosses for saying it

I was righthttps://t.co/SWUvp25T5b

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) March 11, 2024

Some folks are calling this a loss for DeSantis

It’s not

It marks a further loss of credibility for lots of folks, including many in the MSM https://t.co/c8A4o3uZi8

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) March 11, 2024

Members of the DeSantis team also had thoughts on the media’s continued attempts at mislabeling the law – and the settlement:

Homophobic – adjective – having an opinion that the Miami Herald does not like.

— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) March 12, 2024

And never forget how some in the media at the time actually admitted they called it the “Don’t Say Gay” bill because it was better “branding”:

A Florida journalist literally admitted they kept calling it “don’t say gay” because it was just good branding. That would have been a good time to call that bullshit out but none of you did. https://t.co/IDpnPW5Tb5 pic.twitter.com/gGzJwkoUgN

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) March 12, 2024

So to sum up, after two years of legal wrangling, the law DeSantis and parental rights advocates championed remains in effect, with the wording unchanged, and with “clarifications” soon to be sent out to public school educators.

Next?

— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —

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