On Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education bill – dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by opponents – into law. 

The law bans public schools from teaching kindergartners through third-graders about sexual orientation and gender identity, it also prevents teachers from discussing these topics in a manner that is “not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.” LGBTQ advocates worry that language could extend to students beyond third grade. And the law allows parents to sue the school districts for violations.

Earlier this month, while the bill was moving through the Florida legislature, high school students across Florida staged walk outs to protest the bill. Last week, Disney employees in Burbank, California ​​walked off the job to protest Disney’s tepid response to the bill. On Monday, Disney released a statement condemning the law. And the bill even grabbed some attention at the Oscars last weekend.

A law like this could hurt LGBTQ students. A 2021 report from the Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization that helps prevent suicide in LGBTQ young people, says that LGBTQ youth who learned about LGBTQ issues in school were 23 percent less likely to report a suicide attempt.

It’s not just a hypothetical that a law like this could pass in states beyond Florida. According to The Hill, lawmakers in fifteen other states have introduced legislation limiting how gender and sexual orientation can be discussed in schools.

For more, we speak with Heather Wilkie, Executive Director of the Zebra Coalition, a nonprofit that helps support LGBTQ Youth in Central Florida.