PLP’s Work in the Current Political Climate

Becca Damante

One year ago this week, the governor of Florida signed a bill into law to prevent teachers from discussing LGBTQ+ issues in the classroom. Commonly known as the “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” law, this legislation explicitly prohibits teachers from talking about sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade classrooms. 

As a queer person, I was absolutely devastated by this law. If I had books in elementary school that represented LGBTQ+ identities, I cannot imagine how much easier it would have been to come to terms with my sexuality. After the law passed, I also found myself thinking about all of the queer kids and kids with queer families whose identities are now prohibited from being valued and affirmed in the classroom. 

I’m also one-half of the duo that started Pride and Less Prejudice, and our mission is to foster LGBTQ+ acceptance by sending LGBTQ-inclusive books from pre-K to third grade classrooms. Seeing this law felt like a direct attack on our work, but at no point in the last year have I ever wavered in my passion for our cause and our organization. 

Here at Pride and Less Prejudice, we know that what we do makes a positive difference in the world. We hear from teachers and counselors across the United States and Canada that these books are creating more inclusive classrooms. One of my favorite stories is about a teacher who received I Am Jazz, a book about a young girl who is just like her friends in most ways - except that she happens to be transgender. This teacher was able to read I am Jazz with a student whose sibling was in the process of transitioning, bringing more familiarity to the process. 

Other testimonials directly from teachers include: 

“I got the story Love, Violet for my classroom last year. I had a student who was dealing with having a crush on another girl in class. She adored that book and immediately connected with it. Sometimes, it's just letting kids know that their feelings and experiences are not unique to them.”

“I use What are your words? which I received through PLP last year, as a read aloud with my class each year to discuss pronouns and invite students to feel more comfortable sharing their own. I put out an email to my whole staff to request books and a number of them did, further diversifying their classroom libraries.”

“Class budgets are tight, so having the gift of these books is incredibly helpful. Representation matters, having books that reflect the queer families and students in my classroom is important. The books help start the conversation. I am in BC Canada and these books also help with our SOGI curriculum.”

Ultimately, through our work, we are helping to create a future generation that is more empathetic, more understanding of differences, and less prejudiced. 

Yet we know that not everyone understands the importance of our work, and unfortunately, we are still seeing lots of legislation that attacks the LGBTQ+ community. According to the Human Rights Campaign, in 2022, politicians in state legislatures introduced 315 anti-LGBTQ+ bills, and passed twenty-nine. Seven of those bills were curriculum censorship and “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” bills that prohibit teachers from talking about LGBTQ+ issues in the classroom. 

So far, 2023 has been even worse. According to the ACLU, more than 429 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in the U.S. in 2023. Think about that - we’re already at 100+ more bills than we had in total for 2022, and it’s only March. And more than 200 of this year’s bills specifically target schools and education, including a “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” bill in Florida that extends its prohibitions to classrooms from kindergarten to twelfth grade. 

But amidst these attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, we remain as committed as ever, if not more, to providing LGBTQ+ resources to the teachers that want them. 

Not only do we send free books to teachers that request them, but we also host quarterly workshops for teachers, post author read-alouds of some of our favorite LGBTQ+ books, publish teacher guides to accompany our books, and recommend LGBTQ+ books for multiple age groups on Bookshop.

When politicians tell us not to say gay or trans, it’s all the more reason for us to amplify our message. 

From the bottom of my heart, we thank you for your support. If you are so inclined, you can support our mission here.