Florida’s Gov. DeSantis approves the requirement of Asian American and Pacific Islander curriculum while restricting DEI programs and rights for LGBTQ+

Photo: Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP, File

Florida’s Gov. DeSantis just signed House Bill 1537 into law, requiring Asian American and Pacific Islander history be taught in Florida public schools. Thank you to the folks at Make Us Visible Florida for pushing for this change.

But it’s hard to celebrate when DeSantis is using Asian Americans to distract everyone from his ever-growing list of discriminatory laws. Let me be clear: DeSantis is not our friend and he is not our ally.

After signing the bill to require Asian American and Pacific Islander curriculum, DeSantis signed SB 266 which will eliminate funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs from public universities and prohibit the teaching of critical race theory (CRT) in general education courses. 

SB 266 says that any Florida College System institution or university “may not expend any state or federal funds to promote, support, or maintain any programs or campus activities that ... advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, or promote or engage in political or social activism.”

SB 266 will go into effect the same day as HB 1537 on July 1, 2023.

So if DeSantis won’t allow education to advocate for DEI, how honest and unfiltered will the new AAPI curriculum be? Will it be revisionist history?

“DEI is better viewed as standing for ‘discrimination, exclusion and indoctrination,’ and that has no place in our public institutions,” DeSantis said.

Let’s also not forget that DeSantis effectively banned a new AP African American studies course earlier this year saying, “we want education, not indoctrination.”

What else has DeSantis been up to? Today, he just signed the following:

• HB 1069 which expands his harmful “Don’t Say Gay” law.

• SB 254 which bans gender-affirming healthcare for youth.

• HB 1521 which restricts which restrooms transgender people can use.

• SB 1438 which place restrictions on drag shows, making it criminal to admit a child to performances.  

Asian Americans are not pawns in DeSantis’s game of political chess. I hope you’ll join me in condemning these hateful laws under DeSantis’s guise of “protecting children” and “Christian values.”