TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Critics of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he’s trying to justify his Parental Rights In Education law by repeating a parent's story that may be full of holes.
After signing the Parental Rights In Education bill into law the critics call the "Don't Say Gay" bill, DeSantis has been asked about it at several news conferences, including one in Palm Beach County nearly three weeks ago.
That’s when DeSantis repeated the story of mother in the Tallahassee area, whose 13-year-old child was born female, but identifies as male, and she is now suing the school board.
"Some of the people at school decided that her daughter was really a boy and wanted to identify as a boy. So they changed her name. They changed her quote, pronouns," DeSantis said. "They did these things without telling the mother, much less getting the mother's consent."
The key words: getting their mother’s consent.
That mother, January Littlejohn, claims Leon County schools secretly created a transgender support plan for the 13-year-old child without telling her details.
But WPTV Contact 5 obtained emails from Littlejohn to a teacher that places some of the decisions on how to handle this gender issue with teachers, and even her child as she writes, “whatever you think is best for [the child]. She can handle it herself."
"This gender situation has thrown us for a loop. I sincerely appreciate your support. I'm going to let her take the lead on this," Littlejohn wrote.
"She wanted what was best for her child and still does. But she still did not think the school board would take it to the extent that they did," said Palm Beach County School Board candidate Angelique Contreras.
Contreras is a conservative supporter of the Parental Rights In Education act.
"January Littlejohn and her family has every right to know what is happening with their child and the school system," Contreras said.
They don’t.
Right now, gay and transexual teens can confide in teachers, but some worry that the Parental Rights In Education act points towards eliminating this teacher-student confidence.
Tom Lacey is the pastor at the LGBTQ friendly Church On The Hill in Boca Raton.
"The teachers have got to worry about what they say and what they can’t say," Lacey said. "They’re walking on pins and needles because they want to support the child the 12-year-old, the 13-year-old who’s trusted them for a year."
WPTV reached out to the governor’s office for comment on accusations that he’s retelling an embellished story from a concerned parent, but has not heard back.