Florida and LGBTQ advocates on Monday settled a lawsuit over a state law on classroom instruction that grants teachers freedom to discuss sexual orientation and gender identity while also shielding the youngest students from those topics.
Both sides claimed victory.
Equality Florida, one of the rights groups that sued to stop the 2022 law, said it was celebrating the settlement as a “landmark achievement” while the office of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called it “a major win against the activists.”
The Florida law had been used as a model in other states and fueled the culture wars that are part of the country’s larger political polarization. Critics labeled the laws as “don’t say gay,” which became common usage.
While leaving the law in place, the settlement reached through the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals establishes guidelines to be used by state and local educators, freeing students and teachers to more openly discuss sex …