Hum 9 Project Podcast

The Don't Say Gay Bill in Florida prohibits discussions about gender identity and sexual orientation in K-3 public schools. It gives parents the right to take legal action against schools that violate the law. A 17-year-old student named Jack Patogues protested against the bill and faced disciplinary actions from his school. He received support from PEN America, an organization advocating for free expression and education. Patogues' activism led to him receiving the Benenson Courage Award. The transcript ends with a plea for acceptance and an acknowledgement of the challenges faced by the LGBTQ community. Have you heard of the Don't Say Gay Bill recently passed in the state of Florida? If you haven't, sit and listen, so you can learn the effects this could have on many LGBTQ youth and adults, and why it's extremely important. Hi, my name is Justice, now let's talk about justice. The Don't Say Gay Bill prohibits class discussions about gender identity, sexual orientation, and transgender identity from grades K-3 in all public schools. People have said that the bill frames around the fundamental rights for parents to be able to make decisions for their children and control them. It even empowers certain parents to be able to take legal action against the school to obtain declaratory judgment that the school violated the law. This was a way for parents and guardians to feel like they had the power to stop those types of conversations from happening. Fortunately, Jack Patogues, a 17-year-old gay high school student, is fighting against this unjust bill. He, like many others, is angry about this law. He used his voice to start a protest called Say Gay and gained the attention of many. Patogues, a political strategist associated with Gen Z for Change, had previously said Principal Greg Schwartz had told Patogues not to hand out 200 pride flags he had bought for the walkout. Patogues distributed the flags anyways. He was then told not to attend classes during an administrative-excused-absence investigation, Flagler Palm School officials said at the time. Patogues was allowed to return to school after four days. While Patogues was under suspension, a petition was signed by more than 7,000 people calling for his discipline to be deactivated. After a short while, the school said that there wouldn't be any more disciplinary action towards Patogues, but apparently the school broke that verbal agreement and placed a Level 3 referral on his record. In case you don't know what that is, it's very bad. Patogues states that now due to his high level of discipline, I am being prevented from running for class president. Jonathan Friedman, director of the Free Expression and Education Program at PEN America, said that the disciplinary mark against Patogues is among more efforts to silence a student's voice fighting for LGBTQ rights. Later on, PEN America presented Patogues with an award in 2022 called the Benenson Courage Award for his brave acts against the bill. As a person, a part of this community, I'm wondering, when can people just live their lives like other people can just because they can? When will people stop making excuses for themselves? When will PEN America finally focus on things that are happening to us? The Trevor Patogues Act is a legal act. Benjamin Patogues, the president of the United States, wanted to commit suicide every 45 seconds. Not simply because they can, but because of the constant ridicule this country has set out to give us. Benjamin Patogues. Benjamin Patogues. Benjamin Patogues. Benjamin Patoges. Benjamin Patoges.