ORLANDO, Fla. — WFTV is digging deeper into laws signed Wednesday by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
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He said the new laws are designed to protect women and children, but critics say they hurt the LGBTQ community.
One of the laws is already being challenged.
Three Florida parents are calling on a federal court to put in place a temporary restraining order blocking the law that will restrict transgender health care. And there’s outcry in Central Florida, too.
READ: DeSantis signs 5 new bills into law targeting the LGBTQ community
A rally took place Wednesday outside Pulse, demanding a ban on assault weapons, and sharing the stage with those rallying for LGBTQ+ rights.
The four bills DeSantis signed into law include an expansion of the Parental Rights in Education law that critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay,” a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, a bill requiring people to use the bathroom that matches their biological sex and a bill that would fine venues that admit children to adult live performances, including drag shows.
It’s the largest slate of anti-LGBTQ bills to be signed in a single legislative session in Florida history.
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“My studies focus on racial sexuality studies,” University of Central Florida Sarah Paquette said. “I have no idea how it’s going to affect my future curriculum or my pat to get this degree.”
We asked Channel 9 legal analyst Bill Sheaffer how those new laws could hold back educators.
He said, as we have seen in the past, it’s a “slippery slope.”
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“We have seen teachers lose their positions or suffer consequences such as reprimands if they have been in fact found to violate that legislation.
As for businesses, Sheaffer said the far-reaching bill could have “devastating consequences to those the law finds it violated.”
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And there’s also concerns among many that their safety could also be in jeopardy.
“The people that do the bullying and commit the hate criems, it gives them freedom to do that,” Paquette said.
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