Florida Education ‘Top Gun’ Tells Schools to Ignore Federal Guidelines on Gender Identity

Sen. Manny Diaz, Jr., R-Hialeah, closes on his Senate Bill 7030: Implementation of Legislative Recommendations of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission in the Florida Senate in Tallahassee, Fla., on April 23, 2019. Phil Sears/Photo via AP

PUNTA GORDA, Fla.–Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr. told schools to “ignore federal guidelines aimed at preventing discrimination against students based on gender identity, saying they would “vastly expand the application” of Title IX.

In a July 27 letter to superintendents, school boards, private schools, and charter schools, Diaz advised that guidance documents from the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Agriculture “are not binding law” and asked school officials to “refuse to change their practices.”