- I'm really lucky in the fact
that I've had supportive parents,
and I've never had to worry about
getting kicked out of my house or abused for being queer.
I never had parents that were telling me to not be feminine.
They really did just, for the most part,
allow me to express myself however I wanted.
But while that was true, nobody ever explained to me
the existence of the queer community.
- On March 28th, Florida's Republican governor,
Ron DeSantis, signed the Parental Rights
in Education bill into law.
Critics have called it the "Don't Say Gay bill"
because it prohibits teachers from having discussions
on sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten
through third grade.
Teen LGTBQ rights advocates, like Will Larkins,
are at the forefront of the fight
against the controversial law.
- You know, it was obvious to those around me
that I wasn't "like other boys" since probably kindergarten.
I struggled a lot with it
because there was no explanation.
My classmates didn't understand, either.
And because I didn't understand,
and they didn't understand, um, that led to a lot of bullying,
and then, you know, me taking that to heart,
and a lot of confusion and self-hatred.
And even though I definitely could have been
in a worse situation --
'cause I'm so blessed in the fact
that I never felt in danger growing up.
But I still hated myself.
So, even in a privileged position,
where I'm in the minority of LGBTQ kids,
who have an affirmative home,
I still went through something that no kid should have to.
- Larkins is the president and co-founder
of his school's Queer Student Union.
In late February, he testified against the bill
in the Florida State Senate.
- I went to Tallahassee,
and I saw experts come from The Trevor Project,
and from suicide hotlines, and people like me,
talking about our own experiences.
As a queer minor, as a queer child with a younger,
gay sibling, I know that this will endanger people like me
and people like my friends.
You know, queer teens are four times more likely to die
by suicide than their straight counterparts.
And our rates of mental health issues, and drug abuse,
and self-harm -- everything -- is so much higher.
And it has also been proven that education
helps this mental-heath epidemic in the community.
And they're trying to ban that.
- He would like to see the bill reversed,
and thinks there should be even more of an emphasis
in teaching LGBTQ history.
- I held a meeting in the Queer Student Union
where we explained the bill and its implications.
And then, we just asked, "How will this affect you?"
And every single kid had a response.
For some people, it was "school is the only place
I can be myself, and I'm worried that that will be taken away."
For some people, it was "I'm able to use my proper name
and pronouns without my parents knowing,
and that might be taken away."
And to some people, it was "I had a teacher that told me
about the queer community in third, fourth grade,
and that saved my life."
These are all stories that I heard.
And this is just a small sample size from a --
from an entire state full of people.
I'm terrified of how the bill is going to affect
the next generation of queer kids.
There's members of the Queer Student Union,
and I have friends myself,
who are living in homeless shelters
because they were outted to their parents.
And so, they go to school to be affirmed.
And they're attacking that.
You know, what I went through, not being able to understand
who I am, or what I am, was deeply damaging to me.
And I had supportive parents.
Most of the queer community doesn't have supportive parents.
Remember when we used to leave, like, promptly at 6:45?
- Yep.
- I always want to remind people,
being queer isn't a choice.
I don't dress like this because I want attention,
or because I'm trying to make a statement.
It's because I genuinely just feel physically more comfortable
when I present androgynous.
And so, I always want to affirm that.
Nothing anyone does is going to change the fact
that queer people exist.
They're gonna be gay anyways.
It's just gonna be way harder for them to be.