Passionate pleas went on late into the night from supporters and opponents of a proposal to recognize October as LGBTQ History Month.
But after much deliberation, the Miami-Dade County School Board has decided to vote against the proposal for the second year in a row.
The issue was routine as recently as 2021, but last year the board declined the designation, citing the new Parental Rights In Education law, which restricts classroom discussion on gender identity and sexual orientation.
Board member Lucia Baez-Geller sponsored the new proposal, but only two other members besides her voted for it: Dr. Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall and Luisa Santos.
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"Unfortunately, there's a lot of the culture war rhetoric that's being attached to it that's giving a lot of misinformation," said Baez-Geller.
Board member Roberto Alonso voted against the proposal.
“We have to focus on what our core responsibility is, which is to educate our students on their core subjects: math, English, sciences, history," Alonso said.
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Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava called the board's rejection "further weaponizing parental rights laws in an attempt to eradicate equality."
"I want to be clear: as your mayor, I will always support, recognize and protect the LGBTQ community and all students and families in our county," she said in a statement.
The meeting stretched into the overnight hours, but both supporters and opponents of the proposal were given the opportunity to speak out to express the reasons for their stance.
For Allie Owen of Equality Florida, she spoke up in favor of the designation for the representation it would bring to the community.
"Our union cannot be more perfect until it includes the visibility of people like me," she said.
Max Tovar, however, spoke against the proposal, calling it a "Trojan horse," saying it was "an attempt to brainwash."
