Late last week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) spoke at an event in Tampa for the Florida-based Moms for Liberty organization. The group was founded with the intention of empowering “parents to stand up and reclaim their parental rights at all levels of government.”
DeSantis touted his conservative track record and the legislation he has worked on to enhance parental involvement during his last few legislative sessions as governor.
Most recently during 2022’s legislation session, the most notable legislation was the Parental Rights in Education bill which prevented discussion of “sexual orientation or gender identity” in grades Kindergarten through third.
DeSantis, at the time of the legislation’s chief controversy during the spring, said he began fighting back after opponents of the legislation dubbed it the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
“I started fighting back against them because they were just lying to people and it’s offensive when they’re lying and so we start fighting back and I would literally have these reporters, I’d say, ‘Okay, where does it say that in the bill?’ ‘Okay, it doesn’t say that in the bill, what does it say?’” DeSantis said.
At the Moms for Liberty event, DeSantis said “Our school systems are for educating kids, not indoctrinating them,” DeSantis said, citing his administration’s rejection of “woke” math textbooks.
He specifically said, “[Florida schools] were doing woke math … It’s not 2 plus 2 equals ‘well, how do you feel about that? Is that an injustice?’”
In response, Florida State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando) said “There is no such thing as ‘woke math.’”
There is no such thing as “woke math”. https://t.co/3AvJyHjFUQ
— Rep. Carlos G Smith (@CarlosGSmith) July 17, 2022
Public education chair for the Florida Democratic Party, Scott Hottenstein, flatly claimed that CRT is not being taught in Florida’s school system.
“We don’t teach Critical Race Theory in Florida,” Hottenstein said. “Parents want all of history to be taught … without being censored by politicians.”
Pro-abortion activists protested the Moms for Liberty event chanting “Racist, sexist, anti-gay, Ron DeSantis go away.”
One of the organizers of the protest, Ruth Beltran with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said they were gravely concerned over the recently signed 15-week abortion ban in Florida.
“To have only women and their doctors, only trans and nonbinary people and their doctors make decisions when it comes to something as important as abortion, as terminating a pregnancy,” Beltran said.
Despite the protestors, DeSantis’ message at the event consisted of continuing to fight in the face of adversity.
“You’ve got to stand up and you’ve got to fight,” DeSantis said “You’re going to take fire. They’re going to shoot arrows at you.”
– – –
Grant Holcomb is a reporter at The Florida Capital Star and The Star News Network. Follow Grant on Twitter and direct message tips.
Photo “” Ron DeSantis” by The Recount.
