While progressive opponents of the legislation have labeled the measure the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, Republican state senator Dennis Baxley, who spearheaded the bill, said it is intended to restore authority to parents who are better equipped to address the topics of gender identity and sexual orientation in the early stages of childhood development.

Several ESPN broadcasters on Friday participated in an on-air moment of silence to protest Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill, which would prohibit classroom instruction relating to sexual orientation or gender identity for students in kindergarten through third grade.
ESPN’s Elle Duncan on Friday spoke out against the Florida bill and similar proposals in other states, claiming they are “targeting our LGBTQIA+ communities.”

She added that many of her ESPN colleagues planned to walk out on Friday afternoon.

“We understand the gravity of this legislation and also how it is affecting so many families across this country, and because of that our allyship is going to take a front seat,” she said.
“And with that, we’re going to pause in solidarity,” she added, before observing a moment of silence.
Meanwhile, ESPN’s Carolyn Peck and Courtney Lyle took a two-minute-long moment of silence during the NCAA Women’s Tournament on Friday to protest the bill.
“There are things bigger than basketball that need to be addressed at this time,” Lyle said. “Our friends, our family, our coworkers, the players and coaches in our community are hurting right now.”
“Our LGBTQIA+ teammates at Disney asked for our solidarity and support,” she added.

Staffers at Disney, ESPN’s parent company, planned to hold walkouts last week and this week to protest the measure, the Guardian reported.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek said he and other Disney executives called Florida governor Ron DeSantis earlier this month to “express our disappointment and concern that if the legislation becomes law, it could be used to unfairly target gay, lesbian, non-binary, and transgender kids and families,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Chapek first came out against the bill during the company’s annual shareholder meeting when he announced Disney planned to donate $5 million to LGBTQ groups.
The bill passed the state legislature earlier this month. DeSantis is expected to sign the bill into law.

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You were purchased by Jesus Christ, not just your spirit but your body as well. Since they belong to God (doubly because He also created them) it is reasonable and expected that you should dedicate your body to His glory. Among your fellow humans, yes, you have a degree of ownership over your body. But on the highest level of reality, you own not a cell of it. It is completely a possession of God’s, given to you as a gift. You are obligated to obey God with your body. We must teach our children that their bodies were created by God and belong to Him.

The bodies of our children are under attack, and we need to teach them how to defend themselves.
In September 2022, conservative commentator Matt Walsh Tweeted a thread exposing a K-12 school in Tennessee for promoting Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Pediatric Transgender Clinic. Underneath the nice language of “equality” and “acceptance” lies the reality that preadolescent children are receiving cross-gender hormone treatments and reconstructive surgeries.
Cross-gender hormone treatments and reconstructive surgeries are becoming prevalent in children with gender dysphoria. These treatments are irreversible and often lead to the sterilization of children. There is no telling the long-term effects of these treatments.
But even before their parents decide to place them under the scalpel, these children are being bombarded with confusing messages about identity and the significance of their bodies.
Many popular YouTubers, Twitch streamers, and other social media influencers spread the LGBTQ message through their lifestyles or simply by verbally affirming it. Young people face increasing pressure to declare themselves as allies of the “trans community,” and it can be socially dangerous to refrain. Their Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat bios proclaim their pronouns, ranging from the biologically obvious (He/Him, She/Her) to the fantastical (Xe/Xem, Ey/Em, Zie/Zim, Ve/Ver, Ne/Nem).
You may be rolling your eyes, thinking that social media can’t have a real impact on the real world. But as a parent in the 2020s, you must understand something: social media is where your kids spend their time, and it’s where they are being discipled. Social media cannot be shrugged off or dismissed. It is and will remain a powerful force in everyday life.
This attack on the bodies and identities of children has been going on for decades, even centuries, and its effect on our culture will not be thwarted overnight. As Christian parents, we must teach our children what the Bible says about their bodies. Satan whispers many lies to us to pervert our understanding of our bodies, and unfortunately, some of these lies have gained a foothold in churches. Let’s look at some of these lies and how we can instruct our children in biblical truth.
The lie: “You can recreate yourself however you want… you can be your own god.”
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:26-27 NKJV).
One of the reasons Satan hates humans so much is because we bear the image of the God whom he sought to become like. It is a possession he could never have, and his existence now is defined by the hatred and anger he bears toward it. Every thought of his mind, every command he gives to his demons, is toward the goal of attacking the image any way he can. And he does.
All around us are voices telling us how we should feel about our bodies.
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My father appealed to his sons as young men growing up in his house, aiming toward what I see missing in the lives of so many young men—Godliness. Much more important than the color of his skin was the content of his character as a man who pointed us to Scripture.

Do black men matter? The obvious answer is, yes, black men matter. The question is, “In what way do black men matter most?” The answer is that all men, including black men, matter most notably in their children’s lives.
As the firstborn son of Clarence and Mary Walker of Utica, New York, I learned a few things very early on in life. The first thing my father taught me was hard work. My father would say, “No one but you are to blame for your failure. However, everyone will play a role in your success. So, never step on anyone as you climb the ladder toward your next goal.” My father’s constant instruction was that while I may not be smarter than the next man, I am fully responsible for the hard work I dedicate to the task. So, he instructed my brother and me to work harder than others to be successful. My father also told me, “Don’t ever plan to do something that you know will embarrass our family.” I knew that the last instruction covered everything from stealing to getting a girl pregnant before marriage and any other costly decision early in life.
When I was growing up, I assumed that everyone received the same advice from their father. Unbeknownst to me at the time was that single-parent households were on the rise. By 1980, approximately 1 in 10 white children and 5 in 10 black children were experiencing life without a father in the home.[1] The statistics on these numbers have dramatically increased. By 2018, the most recent statistics available, unwed mothers account for 4 out of 10 single-parent households. Black unwed mothers have grown to 7 out of 10 children born to a single-parent home. [2]
As I think about these epidemic numbers and compare them to the current focus on critical race theory to solve racial disparity, I must ask a question. Can you imagine the benefit that the black community would experience if proponents of critical race theory honestly addressed the systemic problem of fatherlessness? Like a man dying of thirst in the desert, many are running to the well of critical race theory as if it were drinking water. Sadly, CRT is a mirage, causing proponents to ignore the most fundamental problem of disparity in the black community—fatherlessness.
Studies are clear regarding the innumerable problems that are the result of absentee fathers. If something is not done quickly, the current devastation within black communities will only grow more prominent in the coming years. As one who benefited from a father in the home, my father taught me many things that I see missing in this current generation of fatherless males. Allow me to give you the benefit of the two lessons I mentioned at the opening.
You are Not a Victim
My father once said, “Son, racism only has the power you give it.” My father was not ignoring that racism existed. Born in rural Arkansas and armed with a 6th-grade education, my dad had first-hand knowledge of the racism of the Jim Crow south. However, he never allowed racism or a lack of formal education to stop him from accomplishing a goal. Furthermore, as a family whose faith is central in our lives, we serve God, who is more powerful than any racist. Our culture today is missing key fatherly instruction that refuses to see victimhood as a badge of honor followed by the masculine example of sticktoitiveness.
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