TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — The Biden Administration spoke out Tuesday against a Florida bill that would limit discussion of LGBTQ issues in schools on the same day the bill passed its first Florida Senate committee.

“Make no mistake: this is not an isolated action in Florida,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a White House press briefing on Tuesday. “Across the country, we’re seeing Republican leaders take action to regulate what students can or cannot read, what they can or cannot learn, and most troubling, who they can or cannot be. This is who these kids are.”

President Joe Biden later tweeted about the bill, pledging that his administration would fight to protect kids who could be impacted by it.

“I want every member of the LGBTQI+ community — especially the kids who will be impacted by this hateful bill — to know that you are loved and accepted just as you are,” Biden tweeted. “I have your back, and my Administration will continue to fight for the protections and safety you deserve.”

The legislation — nicknamed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by some who oppose it — is meant to protect parents rights’ over their children’s education, according to the sponsors.

The relevant section is identical in both the Florida House and Senate versions of the bill: “A school district may not encourage classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.”

Fla. Rep. Joe Harding, R-Ocala, who co-sponsored the House bill, clarified in a committee hearing that “primary grade levels” means grades kindergarten through fifth grade. Fla. Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, sponsor of the Senate version of the bill, said it applies to children “from three [years old] to grade three.”

In public comment periods in both chambers, several teachers testified that kids that age ask questions about these topics all the time. Harding said the bill doesn’t prevent that.

“Children ask a lot of questions,” Harding said, noting that he has four children in this age range. “Conversations are gonna come up. That is the reality of teaching and working with students, so that’s gonna happen. What we’re talking about is specific procedures that the school has.”

Tuesday morning in the bill’s first Senate committee hearing, Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, went a little further.

“If someone says ‘Mrs. Fish, why does Johnny have two mommies?'” Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton, asked. “What is the teacher supposed to say?”

“Well, again, I think…some discussions are with your parents,” said Baxley, the Senate sponsor. “And I think when you start opening sexual-type discussions with children, you’re entering a very dangerous zone.”

Some parents agreed, with one even testifying that her daughter’s school kept her in the dark.

“The school formed a transgender support plan with my daughter behind closed doors with three school officials without notifying me,” a mother testified.

However, most of the speakers during the public comment period spoke in opposition to the bill. Several kids said their parents were the ones who mistreated them.

“I grew up with homophobic parents saying explicitly vile and disgusting things,” one gay man testified.

On a trip to Polk County to announce infrastructure improvements, Gov. Ron DeSantis answered a question from 8 On Your Side about whether kids should have more places to speak about these sensitive issues, rather than fewer.

“Well I think what you’ve seen — there’s been reports in Florida and other parts of the country — is schools keeping parents out of these decisions, and I don’t see how you can do that,” DeSantis answered. “Yes, unfortunately in our society, not every parent does a great job. But to keep parents out and keep them in the dark, I don’t think that that’s something that works very well.”

The bill analysis points to six Florida school districts, including Hillsborough and Sarasota, that already have policies in place guiding teachers to let kids control whom they tell about their LGBTQ status.

“Students have the right to control who in their family knows about their LGBTQ+ status,” according to the Hillsborough policy. “School administrators, teachers and staff should not disclose or disseminate information to parents/guardians about their children’s identity without their consent.”

“It is up to the student, and the student alone, to share her/his/their identity,” the Sarasota policy reads. “In the case of elementary age students often the student and parent are involved. However, this is on a case-by-case basis.”

At least one Florida school district, Leon County, was sued last year over its failure to include parents in gender discussions.

Policy guidance at from U.S. Department of Education also sought to protect the privacy of LGBTQ youth, though that guidance has changed.

An archived version of its Stop Bullying website from August 2021 listed the following bullet point:

Protect all youth’s privacy. Be careful not to disclose or discuss sexual identity issues with parents or anyone else, without the young person’s prior permission, unless there is an immediate threat to their safety or wellbeing.

That language is removed from the current version of the site.

Last year, the CDC reported 11.7% of 15- to 17-year-old students identifying as “non-heterosexual,” a 40% rise from the period between 2015 and 2019.

Policy groups on opposing sides of the political aisle differ on whether the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects parents’ right to know or students’ right to privacy.

Both bills are still in the committee phase of the legislative process.