FLORIDA INTRODUCES BILL MAKING LEWD OR LASCIVIOUS GROOMING OF CHILDREN A FELONY

National Review

 

Florida Introduces Bill Making ‘Lewd or Lascivious Grooming’ of Children a Felony

By ABIGAIL ANTHONY

January 11, 2024 2:20 PM

 

A new bill in Florida would make “lewd or lascivious grooming” a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison and $10,000 in fines for first offenders.

 

The one-page bill, filed last week in the Florida house by Republicans Taylor Yarkosky and Douglas Bankson, would criminalize the act of “preparing or encouraging a child to engage in sexual activity through overtly sexually themed communication.”

 

The bill similarly applies to instances where a child “observed” such sexual communications without permission from the child’s guardians.

 

“Habitual” offenders of second-degree felonies may face up to 30 years in prison. 

 

“‘All Ages Welcome’ should be a crime in Florida for these types of events and ‘Under 5 y/o Free’ should be a felony!” one of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Yarkosky, tweeted in 2022 referencing a drag performance. “I’ve been saying this publicly while campaigning over the past year. There NOTHING ok about ANY of this evil grooming and confusing of our young kids! #ChildAbuse”

 

Although the bill does not distinguish between heterosexual and homosexual grooming, critics and activists have suggested the bill will disproportionately hurt LGBTQ people and censor related content.

 

“One does not need to hypothesize what the intent is of the bill, however. The bill’s sponsors and organizations pushing it have made it clear that the intent is to target LGBTQ+ content and drag shows,” journalist and transgender activist Anthony “Erin” Reed wrote.

 

The publication LGBTQ Nation alleged that the Florida bill “appears to be the state’s latest attempt to criminalize the existence of LGBTQ+ people and content.”

 

Axios reported that “LGBTQ+ advocates are bracing for another tough legislative session for gay and transgender Floridians.”

 

Florida’s sexually-related laws have been subject to lengthy court battles.

 

Governor DeSantis signed the Protection of Children Act in May 2023, which prohibited children from attending “adult live performance” and empowered the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to revoke or suspend the liquor license of establishments found in violation.

 

The Florida restaurant Hamburger Mary’s, which has hosted “family friendly” drag performances, filed a lawsuit against the state and argued that the Protection of Children Act violates the First Amendment.

 

U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell issued a preliminary injunction in June, citing the law’s “vague language” and potential for “overbroad enforcement.”

 

Florida appealed and requested partial stay in July, arguing that the injunction should only apply to Hamburger Mary’s, which Judge Presnell rejected.

 

The DeSantis administration appealed the case, and a 2-to-1 decision in October from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction and prevented Florida from enforcing the law, citing the “overbroad” language.

 

Florida state officials filed an emergency request to the Supreme Court and requested partial stay because the injunction “sweeps beyond the plaintiff and enjoins the statute universally.” In November, the Justices rejected the request by a 6-3 vote.

AH: Much about the LGBTQ community should indeed be criminalized.

Update 08/05:

Washington Examiner

 

Appeals court upholds Florida law banning drag shows for children

By Jack Birle

Published August 4, 2026 4:44pm ET | Updated August 4, 2026 4:45pm ET

 

A federal appeals court upheld Florida’s ban on children attending sexually explicit performances, including drag shows, as lawful, tossing out rulings from lower courts that had found the ban unconstitutional.

 

Florida lawmakers passed the Protection of Children Act in 2023, which made it a misdemeanor to allow minors into live performances that feature nudity, sexual content, and lewd exposure of prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts, among other sexually explicit depictions. The law was immediately met with a lawsuit by the restaurant Hamburger Mary’s, which claimed it unconstitutionally banned children from attending drag shows that the restaurant hosts. The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld the law in an 8-5 ruling, tossing out a federal district court’s ruling finding the law unconstitutional. A three-judge panel on the 11th Circuit also found the law unconstitutional last year, but that ruling was also tossed out by the full bench of the 11th Circuit.

 

“Because the Act is neither overbroad nor vague and regulates only material obscene for minors, it receives rational basis review,” Circuit Judge Andrew Brasher, a nominee of President Donald Trump, wrote for the majority. “Under that standard, a law will be upheld ‘if there is any reasonably conceivable state of facts that could provide a rational basis’ for its enactment. There is no doubt the Act is rational. We will not secondguess the Florida Legislature’s decision to regulate obscenity.”

 

“Preventing children from attending adult live performances obscene for them is rationally related to Florida’s interest in safeguarding the well-being of minors,” the ruling continues. “Although Hamburger Mary’s argues that the Act serves no legitimate purpose because it overlaps with Florida’s other obscenity laws, there is nothing constitutionally suspect about overlapping criminal statutes.”

 

Circuit Judge Britt Grant, a Trump nominee, wrote a concurring opinion, joined by Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom, also a Trump nominee, in which he wrote that he felt the majority did not need to rule on whether the district court exceeded its power by granting a universal injunction against the law. Grant said he would have only upheld the law as constitutional and avoided ruling on the lower court’s ability to issue a broad injunction.

 

There were two dissents written in the case, with the principal dissent written by Circuit Judge Robin Rosenbaum, a nominee of former President Barack Obama. Rosenbaum said the ruling embraces a “mess-around-and-find-out First Amendment jurisprudence” where “a citizen can learn whether a law prohibits their speech only by taking a wild guess, presenting their speech, and then seeing if they get arrested and face imprisonment, thousands of dollars in fines, and loss of their business license.”

 

“Florida purposely created a mess-around-and-find-out statute to chill drag. And the Act is unconstitutionally vague by design,” Rosenbaum wrote, arguing the law violates the First Amendment. “Yet today we uphold it, anyway. The Constitution does not countenance our determination.”

 

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier celebrated the ruling, calling it a “huge victory” and adding that “after 3 years of litigation, the full court affirmed the constitutionality of Florida’s ban on children attending sexualized drag shows.” Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who signed the Protection of Children Act into law, also heralded the ruling, adding that the ban “shouldn’t even be controversial, yet our law protecting kids required us to fend off lawsuits and win a case before a divided appellate court.”

 

The restaurant that sued over the law could still appeal the case to the Supreme Court in the coming months.

Meanwhile, in Washington state:

New York Post

 

‘Insulted’ mom yanks kids from school after Pride video shown without notice: ‘No trust in leadership’

By Rachel del Guidice , Fox News

Published July 30, 2026, 2:00 p.m. ET

Originally Published by: Fox News

 

A Washington mother says she is withdrawing her children from an elementary school after learning a Pride-themed lesson had been presented during music class without advance notice to parents or an opportunity to opt out, raising questions about district policies governing classroom instruction.

 

“I assumed I had probably missed an email asking for consent, but there was nothing,” Maria Varchetto said in communications with school administrators, which she shared with Fox News Digital on Monday.

 

“No advanced notice, no opportunity to review the lesson, no information letting parents know this topic would be discussed. No option to request that our kids be allowed to opt out and participate in an alternative activity. There was nothing.”

 

Varchetto alleged the lesson was presented to elementary school students, including her daughter, on June 15 at Martha Lake Elementary School in the Edmonds School District as part of a music class and that parents were not informed beforehand.

 

Varchetto said that a video entitled “Why is Pride in June,” from the YouTube account “Queer Kid Stuff,” which, according to the account, “imagines a kinder and more equal future through highly-accessible education and entertainment for kids ages 3+,” was shown to her fourth-grade daughter.

 

The YouTube channel describes itself as an “LGBTQ+ educational webseries for children ages 3+ hosted by a tie-wearing queer lady, Lindsay, and her non-binary best-stuffed friend, Teddy. Gender Studies 101 meets Mr. Rodgers’ Neighborhood!”

 

Varchetto said the incident prompted her to remove her children from the school.

 

“We are 100 percent removing our kids from this school as I have no trust in the leadership,” Varchetto said.

 

Other materials Varchetto said were included were a list of videos by musicians in the LGBTQ+ community, such as Freddie Mercury of Queen, Lil Nas X and Billy Porter dancing in a ballgown on “Sesame Street.”

 

Varchetto told school officials that her daughter recalled hearing during the lesson that students could identify as gay, lesbian, transgender, asexual, nonbinary or Two-Spirit.

 

She said an administrator told her she had not been aware those topics were part of the classroom discussion, leaving Varchetto wondering whether the lesson included more than the materials she had been shown.

 

“No handouts were sent home (which is typical for music class),” Varchetto told Fox News Digital in a statement.

 

Varchetto said she asked the school for a copy of the lesson materials but was told they could only be reviewed in person rather than sent electronically.

 

She also said parents were not notified beforehand that the lesson would be taught, were not given an opportunity to opt their children out, and received no advance communication about its content.

 

She said that cultural lessons were taught every month for the theme of that month, but that Pride month was left off of the list of lessons.

 

“I feel mad they did this, mad they hid it,” Varchetto said.

 

“I feel insulted, offended, angry, and sad that my kids are now being taken out of a lifestyle they’ve grown to love, away from the friendships they’ve built, all because this one teacher didn’t care to ask permission and a principal lied and hid it.”

 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for Edmonds School District said, “The lesson was not part of a districtwide Pride curriculum. It was a music lesson developed by the school’s music teacher that highlighted the contributions of influential musicians, including some who identify as LGBTQ+.”

 

The spokesperson continued, “The purpose of the lesson was to teach music and music history through the lives and contributions of notable artists. Discussions about an artist’s background or identity were included as relevant biographical context, similar to how students may learn about other aspects of historical figures’ lives that helped shape their experiences and contributions.”

 

The spokesperson added, “We expect instructional materials to be age-appropriate and aligned with district expectations and state standards. As with any concern raised about classroom instruction, we will work with the school administrator to determine whether they met those expectations.”

AH: Does this music class actually teach kids how to play music?