TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Jeff and Todd Delmay have been legally married for seven years. They were one of the first same-sex couples to marry in Florida.

They’re also the proud parents of 11-year-old Blake. When they learned about a bill that would silence LGBTQ speech in their child’s class, it raised several concerns.

“I’m so deeply concerned about the harms this will cause,” Delmay said. “If Blake wasn’t able to go and freely talk to his teachers about us as parents or about himself, I think that that would have been very damaging.”

Under a new amendment to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, if a student tells a teacher or faculty member about their LGBTQ status, the school has to tell their parents within six weeks.

The legislation would also ban the discussion of sexuality and gender identity in classrooms.

“This is an all out attack on LBGT students and families,” Michael Womack with Equality Florida said. “They’ve doubled down on the cruelty of this bill with this new amendment and it’s disgusting.”

The bill’s sponsor’s claim the legislation doesn’t prevent these types of conversations in the classroom. Senator Dennis Baxley says it addresses specific procedures schools have. 

“My thing is the teacher’s plate is full, yet we throw every social agenda in their face to take care of, and I’m relieving them of that saying this is not your arena,” Baxley said.

Governor Ron DeSantis signaled he would support the bill.

“To keep parents out in the dark is something I don’t think works very well,” DeSantis said.

The Delmay’s say this legislation is a poor solution in search of a problem.

“It just takes one vigilante parent who is going to go at the very heart of this matter, who will sue claiming that their child has been exposed to some word that is apparently dangerous or sensitive, and yet LGBTQ people are in the world,” Delmay said. “When children are home and they’re in their safe environment, we want them to be safe, but they need safe spaces out in the world, and school for some kids is the only place they can find a safe space.”

Groups are holding emergency rallies to try and stop the bill from landing on the governor’s desk. Equality Florida and Project Pride SRQ are holding a rally Sunday, Feb. 27 from 12:30-1:30 p.m. across the John Ringling Bridge.

HB 1557 and SB 1834 are on the house floor Tuesday.