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Thousands protest ‘Don’t Say Gay,’ lead organizer is indefinitely suspended

By Brody Levesque of the Los Angeles Blade, Courtesy of the National LGBT Media Association
Flagler Palm Coast High School junior Jack Petocz. (Photo from Petocz via Twitter)

Secondary schools across the state of Florida were disrupted at around noon on March 3 as thousands of students walked-out of classes and lunch hour sessions to protest the Florida Legislature’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill which passed a final vote in the state House of Representatives and is headed to the Senate.

The state-wide protests had been promoted and planned based on a series of social media posts from Flagler Palm Coast High School junior Jack Petocz using the hashtag of #DSGWalkout.

Students also gathered in the state capitol building in Tallahassee just outside the House chamber to protest and show their disgust with the legislation. H.B. 1557, titled Parental Rights in Education bill, now heads to the GOP-controlled Senate, where it is expected to pass. After the Senate, it would head to the desk of Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has signaled support for the bill.

The measure, which has garnered national media attention and condemnation from the White House, would ban classroom discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity that are not “age-appropriate” in schools – though it is not clear what is considered “age-appropriate.”

Brandon J. Wolf, the Press Secretary for Equality Florida told the Blade late Thursday that the reconciliation House version of the bill is headed for debate on the Senate floor Monday and is scheduled for a vote Tuesday.

Before the protest on Thursday, Petocz, had purchased 200 plus small LGBTQ+ flags for students at the Flagler Palm Coast High School gathering. He was pulled aside by Principal Greg Schwartz, who voiced his opposition to the over 200 pride flags Petocz had bought and brought to school.

“He told me I wouldn’t be allowed to (distribute the flags). He went further to question the intentions of our protest, asking if pride flags were relevant to opposition to the bill,” Petocz told the Daytona Beach News-Journal. “I decided to move forward and handed the flags to other student organizers for distribution at the event.”

“Following the protest, I was called into the principal’s office, told I was disrespectful and openly advocating against staff,” Petocz said. “They suspended me from campus until further notice. I informed the principal I wasn’t going to speak with him and was going to talk to a lawyer.”

Students who showed up to the stadium with flags and other pride-related merchandise were blocked by administrators attempting to confiscate them, according to Petocz.

“I pushed back on this, as I wasn’t going to allow staff to minimize our reach and message,” he said. “Using my megaphone, I told students to hold onto their flags and not to allow them to silence us.”

Students started a petition on change.org Thursday afternoon to rescind Petocz suspension.

Jason Wheeler, spokesman for the Flagler County School district, said he couldn’t release specifics about individual students’ participation Thursday.

While the protests were ongoing both at the state capitol building and high schools across Florida, in Buena Vista, Florida, LGBTQ+ activists demonstrated near Disney World to protest the company’s lack of showing support for the LGBTQ+ community.

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