Gay kindergarten teacher on Florida law guarding parental rights: 'It scares me to death' that I won't be able to talk about 'my partner' to my students



A gay kindergarten teacher in Florida said "it scares me to death" that he won't be able to talk to his students about his "partner" due to the Parental Rights in Education bill Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed into law Monday.

The law — which left-wing pro-LBGTQ types have falsely referred to as the "Don't Say Gay" bill — prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3, and it doesn't use the word "gay" or prevent its use.

What did the teacher say?

“It really hits hard in my heart professionally and personally,” teacher Cory Bernaert said in an interview MSNBC posted Tuesday. He added that "it truly makes me feel like I am not trusted as a professional. I know my kindergarten standards through and through, and nowhere in our curriculum does it have anything about teaching sexual orientation or sexual identity. So for them to say that that's happening ... it's kinda crazy."

Bernaert — who teaches at Barbara A. Harvey Elementary School in Parrish and who spoke about the issue to local media earlier this month — added to MSNBC that "we should be able to have discussions, and that’s what we’re encouraged to do in kindergarten." He added that "my kids do have questions. They want to know who my partner is in pictures outside of my classroom, and I should be able to speak to them.”

The MSNBC interviewer asked Bernaert if he's concerned he won't be able to talk about his "own personal home life" with students, then interjected that she knows "everything" about her child's teachers "because my kid tells me."

Bernaert replied, "Absolutely. You are 100% correct. That’s what we do as educators; we build relationships with our kids. And in order to build relationships, you talk about your home life, you talk about what you do on the weekends. That's building community ... it scares me to death that I'm not going to be able to have these conversations with my children, because they’re going to ask me what I did on the weekend. I don’t want to have to hide that my partner and I went paddle boarding this weekend.”

He added that his students will ask, "What does 'partner' mean, Mr. Bernaert?” and then wondered, “Can I tell them what it means?”

Bernaert also said that if gay parents of his students don't want to or don't know how to answer such a question, then his students "are gonna come to me and ask me."

He also told MSNBC the new law opens up schools and teachers to parental lawsuits.

Parent complains child might be taught 'to be gay' after teacher displays rainbow flag in junior high class. Teacher pushes back — but ultimately resigns.



John M. Wallis told NBC News he asked permission last month from his Missouri school district to hang a rainbow Pride flag in his classroom before the first day at Neosho Junior High School.

Wallis, 22, told the network his administrators "advised against it but didn't instruct me not to."

So Wallis — a speech, theater, and world mythology teacher — displayed the flag and two signs above his whiteboards that both read "In this classroom everyone is welcome," NBC News reported.

What happened next?

Wallis told the network that his students noticed: "I had, on the first day, about five students that came up to me and thanked me. They said: 'Thank you for having the flag up. I wouldn't know where else to go.'"

But two days later — Aug. 26 — Wallis told NBC News that administrators called him to a meeting and said a parent called with a concern that he "would potentially teach their child to be gay."

Administrators also told Wallis to remove the signs and the Pride flag, the network said, adding that Wallis said one of the administrators compared the Pride flag to the Confederate flag.

"I was told that in the classroom I have to be middle-of-the-road on political issues, and I said: 'That's OK. This is not a political issue,'" Wallis told NBC News. "I said, 'This is a human rights issue.' And then I was told I have to be middle-of-the-road on human rights. There's no middle road on human rights."

'Pushing an agenda'

Wallis said students on Aug. 30 came in "every hour" asking where the flag and the signs were, after which Wallis replied he was told to take them down, the network said.

"And then I went a step further and said, 'If you have a problem with that flag representing me or my students, there are other classes that you can find,'" he told NBC News he told students.

More from the network:

The following day, he said, he was called into a meeting with Jim Cummins, the Neosho School District superintendent, who said multiple parents had called and said Wallis was "pushing an agenda in the classroom."

Cummins asked Wallis to sign a letter that prohibited him from discussing topics related to LGBTQ people in the classroom.

The letter, shared with NBC News, said that if Wallis was "unable to present the curriculum in a manner that keeps your personal agenda on sexuality out of your narrative and the classroom discussions, we will ultimately terminate your employment."

It added, "To clarify this further, there will be no references to sexuality or gender displayed in your classroom, your instruction and classroom conversations will stay clear of discussions regarding human sexuality and/or sexual preference, and any research or assignments given should not require a topic related to the above."

How did the teacher respond?

Wallis told NBC News he signed the letter but resigned the next day. And while Wallis had planned to stay until Sept. 30, the network said administrators on Sept. 2 told him they found a replacement and that he had until the end of the day to pack up his classroom.

"As per all personnel matters, there is a limited amount of information that is allowed to be shared by the school district," Cummins told NBC News in a statement.

More from the network:

Wallis, who said he grew up as a closeted teen in Neosho, said the letter broke his heart, adding that "the term 'sexual preference' was used, which showed me that the district and people in the Neosho clearly believe that it's still a choice to be who I am."

He has since filed a complaint with the Education Department's Office of Civil Rights alleging that he faced employment discrimination due to his sexual orientation. Cummins declined comment further about the complaint. [...]

Now, Wallis said, he plans to move to St. Louis, where he hopes to be a speech and debate coach, but he doesn't plan to teach K-12 school anymore.

"I don't want people thinking I hate my district. I grew up there. I love it so much, but there are very clear issues, and public education is meant to serve all of the public," he told NBC News. "And if we aren't doing that by protecting LGBTQ+ educators and students, then we aren't doing what public education should be doing."