Florida Teacher Investigated For Showing Disney Movie With Gay Character

A fifth grade teacher in Florida is under investigation after showing the Disney film "Strange World" in class. The movie happens to have a character that is gay, and parents were outraged that the teacher "stripped" their children of their "innocence" by showing the film. This isn't indoctrination by any stretch, but it does show that the point of Florida's "Don't Say Gay" legislation isn't about stopping indoctrination, it is about trying to erase the LGBTQ community from our existence. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins discusses this.

Check out our merch by visiting our store

Subscribe to our podcast

Become a member today!

Support us by becoming a monthly patron on Patreon, and help keep progressive media alive!

Spread the word! LIKE and SHARE this video or leave a comment to help direct attention to the stories that matter. And SUBSCRIBE to stay connected with Ring of Fire's video content!

Support Ring of Fire by subscribing to our YouTube channel

Be sociable! Follow us on:

*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

A Florida Elementary School teacher is under investigation by the State Department of Education down here in Ron DeSantis, author Authoritarian Dictatorship for showing the Disney movie Strange World to her fifth grade classroom. Uh, the teacher, Jenna Barbie, showed the video to her students on, uh, what was the day, may, May 5th, I believe it was May 3rd. Her students had been doing standardized testing that day, and then after the standardized testing was over, she thought it would be a nice little treat. I'm gonna show you this Disney movie that came out in 2022. Now, the issue with this Disney movie is apparently it has a gay character, and the character mentions at the beginning of the movie that he has a crush on another male character. That is how you establish that this character is gay, and then his sexuality is not mentioned for the rest of the movie. It is not a plot point. This is not something that the movie focuses on. It's a one-off like, oh, I, I've, I haven't seen it, but you know, oh, I have a crush on this guy. Okay, great, wonderful for you. And then they move on and get into the plot. When the plot has nothing to do with being gay.

This teacher is now under investigation because a school board member who happens to have a child in that classroom, a school board member who according to reports, uh, is either a member of the right wing, far right group Moms for Liberty, or she had their backing in her school board race, and this mother made the complaint. The teacher is now under investigation because gay people are not allowed to exist in the state of Florida. Now, the don't say gay legislation actually only applies to discussions of sexuality in grades kindergarten through third. It does not bar the discussion for fourth grade and above, which obviously would include this woman's fifth grade classroom. So the don't say gay legislation would not apply in this particular instance, and it shouldn't apply. It shouldn't exist to begin with because the teacher was not teaching students. This is how you be gay. Watch this movie so you can all be gay after that. That's not what it was.

It was a movie that had a gay character, because believe it or not, Republicans, gay people exist whether you want 'em to or not, they're still going to exist. But here is what that mother who happens to be on the school board said about this teacher showing that film. And this tells you everything you need to know. Listen to these disgusting words. Uh, the, the school board member, by the way, is a woman by the name of Shannon Rodriguez. Rodriguez. Uh, she said, quote, it is not a teacher's job to impose their beliefs upon a child, religious, sexual orientation, gender identity, any of the above. Allowing movies such as this assists teachers in opening a door for conversations that have no place in our classrooms. As a leader in this community, I'm not going to stand by and allow this minority