Newsom blasts DeSantis for ‘demeaning’ LGBT+ people in Fox News debate
Florida governor has introduced policies limiting classroom discussion and banning books around sexuality
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and California Governor Gavin Newsom clashed on Thursday at a debate hosted by Fox News.
In one segment, Mr DeSantis held up a page from the graphic novel Gender Queer, describing the acclaimed memoir about gender dysphoria as “pornography”.
“This is pornograpy, it’s cartoons, it’s aimed at children, and it’s wrong,” Mr DeSantis said.
“This should not be in schools when people on the left say that somehow you’re banning books by removing this from a young kid’s classroom. No, this is not age appropriate.”
Mr Newsom interpreted this, alongside Florida’s policies limiting classroom discussion and banning books around sexuality, as a wider attack on LGBT+ people.
“I don’t like the way you demean people. I don’t like the way you demean the LGBTQ+ community,” the California governor said.
Last year, Florida passed a bill banning classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through third grand, which the governor’s administration has since expanded to all grades.
Another law, passed by Mr DeSantis last year, requires a certified media specialist to evaluate all books available in classrooms and libraries.
Teachers can face felony charges if non-sanctioned books are present, prompting educators to strip their classroom shelves in fear of being prosecuted.
According to analysis of book bans across the US by PEN America during the first half of the 2022-2023 school year, as least 30 per cent of the impacted titles are books about race, racism, or feature characters of colour, and more than a quarter of all titles include LGBT+ characters or themes.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments