Florida has come under intense national scrutiny over legislation that critics have labeled the “Don’t Say Gay” law.
The GOP legislation, which Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law Monday, bars instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through the third grade. Republicans argue that parents should broach these subjects with children. Democrats have said the law demonizes LGBTQ people by excluding them from classroom lessons.
WHAT DOES THE LAW DO?
The law’s central language reads: “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
Parents would be able to sue districts over violations.
During his bill signing ceremony, DeSantis presented an example of what he considers inappropriate teaching material for the young students: A poster containing a drawing of “The Genderbread Person,” developed to help students learn about and distinguish between anatomical sex, gender expression, gender identity, sexual attraction and romantic attraction.
The graphic has been included in various anti-bullying training programs and offered as a resource by the Washington-based LGBTQ rights advocacy group Human Rights Campaign and others.
“This is trying to sow doubt in kids about their gender identity,” DeSantis said. “It’s trying to say that they can be whatever they want to be. This is inappropriate for kindergarteners and first graders and second graders. Parents do not want this going on in their schools.”
DeSantis said the graphic was being used in Florida and other states.
WHAT ARE THE CRITICISMS?
Opponents of the law say banning lessons about gender identity and sexual orientation marginalizes LGBTQ people and their presence in society.
In that vein, they have labeled the measure the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Republicans have chafed at that phrasing, chiding advocacy groups and news outlets that have used it.
Critics of the law say its language — “classroom instruction,” “age appropriate” and “developmentally appropriate” — is overly broad and subject to interpretation. Consequently, teachers might opt to avoid the subjects entirely at all grade levels for fear of being sued, they say.
DeSantis and Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran have waved off those concerns. Corcoran points to a section of the legislation that requires his agency to draw up additional guidelines.
“Now we can go and … work it out so people have that clear understanding,” Corcoran said. He said what passing the law did was to “set clear guardrails.”
Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association, said the law is nothing more than a political wedge issue for Republicans. He notes that elementary schools, especially in kindergarten through third grade, do not teach these subjects.
DOES THE LAW DO ANYTHING ELSE?
A less-talked-about aspect of the law requires districts to notify parents of health care services offered in schools and give them the option to decline them.
Districts will also be required to notify parents if there is any change in a student’s mental, emotional or physical health monitoring.
Republicans have said the law is intended to keep parents informed of what children learn and are exposed to in schools. Under a similar rationale, DeSantis last week signed a bill that gives parents a say in what books schools can and can’t have in their libraries and requires elementary schools to provide a searchable list of every book available or used in instruction.
WHAT’S NEXT?
LGBTQ advocacy groups and Democrats have hinted at taking legal action but nothing has yet materialized.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona on Monday said his agency “will be monitoring this law upon implementation to evaluate whether it violates federal civil rights law.” He said students or parents who believe they are experiencing discrimination in school can file complaints with federal officials.
Hong Kong’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak has cost about 6,000 lives this year – and the city is now running out of coffins.
Authorities have scrambled to order more, with the government saying 1,200 coffins had reached the city last week with more to come.
Space constraints make cremation a common burial practice in the densely populated island territory off the Chinese mainland, and the coffins typically are wood or wood substitutes.
To answer the shortage of them due to the COVID-19 toll, some companies are offering alternatives such as an environmentally friendly cardboard coffin.
LifeArt Asia has cardboard coffins made of recycled wood fiber that can be customized with designs on the exterior. In its factory in Aberdeen, a southern district of Hong Kong, up to 50 coffins can be produced a day.
CEO Wilson Tong said there is still some resistance to using caskets made of cardboard. “(People feel that) it’s a little bit shameful to use so-called paper caskets. They feel that this is very respectful to their loved ones,” Tong said.
But he noted the company has designs that can reflect religion or hobbies and the coffin can even have a personalized color. “So it gives more than enough sufficient choices to the people, and so that they can customize the funeral and offer a more pleasant farewell without the fear of death.”
The company says its cardboard coffins, when burned during the cremation, emits 87% less greenhouse gas compared to those made of wood or wood substitutes. Each LifeArt coffin weights about 10.5 kilograms (23 pounds), and can carry a body that weights up to 200 kilograms (441 pounds).
Hong Kong has reported about 200 deaths daily on average over the past week as many elderly residents who were unvaccinated die from COVID-19. The surge has put a strain on mortuaries, and refrigerated containers are being used to temporarily store bodies.
Amid the rising toll, non-profit Forget Thee Not, which advises people on their choices for last rites, bought 300 cardboard coffins and caskets to either send to hospitals or give to families who need them.
“We have been promoting environmental-friendly and personalized funerals. Now we see that Hong Kong needs more coffins. There are not enough coffins for the bodies in our hospitals,” said Albert Ko, a board director at Forget Me Not.
Ko said some of the elderly who discussed their last rites with the organization have been open-minded and welcoming to the idea of eco-coffins.
“We hope to take this opportunity to contribute as well as promote eco-coffins,” he said.
Total Doses Distributed = 701,257,665. Total Doses Administered = 559,976,590. Number of People Receiving 1 or More Doses = 255,303,233. Number of People Fully Vaccinated = 217,448,365.
Runners will soon get the opportunity to belt out “Let it Go” and sign-up for three Frozen 5K races that are all themed to different Frozen adventures or participate in all three and get a virtual challenge medal.
Races include:
The Original Classic, medal features Kristoff and Sven in a snowy wonderland.The Heroic Sequel, medal features beloved sisters Anna and Elsa from Frozen II.The Broadway Hit, medal features the Frozen on Broadway logo.RunDisney Virtual Challenge (all three races), features everyone’s favorite snowman, Olaf.
Last year, runDisney had a similar series that was inspired by the hit film, “The Lion King.”
What’s so great about virtual races is that a runner can participate almost anywhere including the gym or neighborhood between June 1 and Aug. 31.
Runners can print a downloadable race bib at home and a finisher certificate.
Israel’s prime minister has tested positive for the coronavirus and is working from home, his office said Monday, after he held a series of in-person meetings that included U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Naftali Bennett’s office said the premier was feeling well and would continue his schedule as planned, which includes a briefing on an attack late Sunday that killed officers of Israel’s paramilitary border police. After meeting with Blinken, Bennett rushed to the city of Hadera, the scene of the shooting, to meet with authorities responding to the attack.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said Tuesday that Blinken will follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “including by masking and undergoing appropriate testing.”
Israel is experiencing a modest increase in COVID-19 infections as an omicron subvariant spreads there as in many other countries. Bennett and nearly half of Israel have received three vaccinations.
And hours before the test, Bennett rushed to the city of Hadera, where gunmen killed two Border Police officers and wounded four others before they were shot and killed.
The government said the shooters were supporters of the militant Islamic State group, and IS has claimed responsibility. It was the second deadly attack carried out in an Israeli city in less than a week ahead of the volatile period leading up to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Authorities are on high alert.
The attack also threatened to cast a shadow over a gathering of foreign ministers in the Negev desert, where the Iranian nuclear deal was expected to top the agenda. The attendees at the gathering, from the United States and four Arab countries, condemned the shooting.
Last Tuesday, a lone attacker inspired by the Islamic State group killed four people in a stabbing rampage in southern Israel before he was killed by passersby.
China began locking down most of its largest city of Shanghai on Monday as a coronavirus outbreak surges and amid questions about the economic toll of the nation’s “zero-COVID” strategy.
Shanghai’s Pudong financial district and nearby areas will be locked down from early Monday to Friday as citywide mass testing gets underway, the local government said. In the second phase of the lockdown, the vast downtown area west of the Huangpu River that divides the city will then start its own five-day lockdown Friday.
Residents will be required to stay home and deliveries will be left at checkpoints to ensure there is no contact with the outside world. Offices and all businesses not considered essential will be closed and public transport suspended.
Already, many communities within the city of 26 million have been locked down, with their residents required to submit to multiple tests for COVID-19. And Shanghai’s Disney theme park is among the businesses that closed earlier.
Shanghai detected another 3,500 cases of infection on Sunday, though all but 50 were people who tested positive but were not showing symptoms of COVID-19. China categorizes such cases separately from “confirmed cases” — those in people who are sick — leading to much lower totals in daily reports.
China has reported more than 56,000 infections nationwide this month, with a surge in the northeastern province of Jilin accounting for most of them.
In response to its biggest outbreak in two years, China has continued to enforce what it calls the “dynamic zero-COVID” approach, calling that the most economical and effective prevention strategy against COVID-19.
That requires lockdowns and mass testing, with close contacts often being quarantined at home or in a central government facility. The strategy focuses on eradicating community transmission of the virus as quickly as possible, sometimes by locking down entire cities.
While officials, including Communist Party leader Xi Jinping have encouraged more targeted measures, local officials tend to take a more extreme approach, concerned with being fired or otherwise punished over accusations of failing to prevent outbreaks.
With China’s economic growth already slowing, the extreme measures are seen as worsening difficulties striking employment, consumption and even global supply chains.
While China’s vaccination rate is around 87%, it is considerably lower among older people.
National data released earlier this month showed that over 52 million people aged 60 and older have yet to be vaccinated with any COVID-19 vaccine. Booster rates are also low, with only 56.4% of people between 60-69 having received a booster shot, and 48.4% of people between 70-79 having received one.
