Censorship in Florida (Part 2)

From Christopher Wiggins' 1-23-23 ADVOCATE article entitled "DeSantis Blames 'Queer Theory' for AP African American Studies Course Rejection":

Monday morning, Florida’s anti-LGBTQ+ Republican governor, Gov. Ron DeSantis, addressed questions about his education department’s recent rejection of an AP African American Studies course, claiming its inclusion of queer theory made it inappropriate for Florida’s students to learn.

According to DeSantis, the advanced placement course on Black history included a lesson on “queer theory,” which runs afoul of the governor’s “don’t say gay” law.

“This course, when I heard it, didn’t meet the standards. I figured, ‘Yeah, they may be doing CRT,’” DeSantis told reporters in Jacksonville. “It’s way more than that. This course on Black history, what [is] one of the lessons about? Queer theory. Now, who would say that’s an important part of Black history, Queer theory? That is somebody pushing an agenda on our kids” [...].

“If those like the Florida governor would educate themselves first, before hindering the education of our young people, they might realize that great thinkers and writers like James Baldwin and Audre Lorde, as well as a host of others, are the progenitors of what is now Black Queer Theory,” [E. Patrick] Johnson tells The Advocate.

“It would be best that those who are not scholars of African American history to leave the question of what should and should not be included in that history to those scholars,” he says.

Press Secretary for Equality Florida, Brandon Wolf, agrees with Johnson’s assessment.

“It sounds like Ron DeSantis would himself benefit from taking AP African American Studies, as he has no knowledge of the critical role that queer people have played in Black history in our country,” Wolf tells The Advocate. “Bayard Rustin, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and so many others helped shape American history, and learning about the contributions of Black LGBTQ people absolutely has educational value, despite the governor’s objections.”

Wolf adds: “DeSantis has staked his political career on book banning, government censorship, and replacing lessons on arts, culture, and our history with whitewashed, anti-LGBTQ propaganda. Educational institutions deserve better than his politically-motivated assaults on truth. Students deserve better.”

To read the entire article, click HERE.