Conservative News Sites Are Pushing Misleading Activist Phrase ‘Don’t Say Gay’
Editors’ Note: The use, or abuse, of language is now an integral part of the culture war. The attack on Florida by activists, the press, and corporations, is for the most part caused by deliberate verbal distortions of what the legislation actually says. But activists believe a higher cause is served by repeating a lie over and over again, hoping the uninformed will be duped into believing the legislation discriminates against homosexuals. Conservatives always need to be cautious about adopting the terms developed by the Left. It is not too much to say that if you control the language of the debate, you control the debate.
Conservative-leaning news outlets parroted liberal activist language in headlines to describe a Florida bill banning lessons on sexuality and gender ideology for young children.
The phrase “Don’t Say Gay,” which was used by LGBT activists since at least 2012, was mainstreamed by corporate media in February and eventually picked up by conservative outlets to describe Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill.
The legislation, which does not ban the word gay in schools or anywhere else, bars teachers from discussing sexuality and gender identity with children in kindergarten through third grade and requires parental consent for health services offered in schools. Students in fourth grade and higher will still be able to have age-appropriate lessons on gender and sexuality.
It also blocks schools from imposing rules that prevent teachers from notifying parents about services offered to children that impact their physical, mental, or emotional health, with exceptions in place for instances of potential child abuse.
Newsmax published “WH Denounces Florida GOP Over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill” Feb. 8, and the Daily Caller published “SNL Rips Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill” March 6.
The Washington Examiner, Fox Business and the New York Post also used “Don’t Say Gay” uncritically in their headlines.
Karlyn Bowman, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, discussed the importance of language in shaping public opinion in comments to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“It is always important to look at how a question is worded when evaluating a public opinion survey,” she said. “I rarely comment on polls on a news story until I have been able to compare several polls with different question wordings.”
The legislation was signed into law by DeSantis Monday.
Newsmax, the Washington Examiner, Fox Business, and the New York Post did not respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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This article was published by the Daily Caller and is reproduced with permission.
