In April, the Florida State Board of Education voted to expand the “Don’t Say Gay” law, extending the state’s ban on classroom lessons around gender/sexuality to all grades K- 12. This decision came just as the Florida House of Representatives passed three anti-LGBTQ+ bills,one of which would make it a felony to provide gender-affirming health care services to transgender youth. Florida officials have made it their mission to target, attack and shame Black and LGBTQ+ children both inside and outside the classroom. To date, none of their corporate enablers or partners have condemned their blatant transphobia. 

GEICO and dozens of other corporations are official business partners of the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE), which has introduced and enacted a series of anti-LGBTQ+ policies during the past year alone.  

In March 2022, shortly after the FLDOE approved the original “Don’t Say Gay” law, the Collier County School District challenged 62 books centered around LGBTQ+ themes and characters, including “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson. Despite its educational value to Black and queer children seeking to explore their gender identity, none of these corporations criticized the original “Don’t Say Gay” law or the book bans that followed. A few months later, the FLDOE enacted a strict rule prohibiting public and charter schools from allowing transgender students to use their preferred bathrooms and restrooms unless all parents in the school district were alerted via letter and online public announcement. Once notified, parents were given the right to request that a chaperone be placed in all restrooms and locker rooms, heightening the surveillance and stigmatization of transgender and non-binary students. Despite clear threats to student safety, none of these corporations demanded a repeal of this rule or advocated for LGBTQ+ rights. 

Their silence is violence. In a recent study conducted by Clark University Professor Abbie E. Goldberg, 13 percent of LGBTQ+ parents with LGBTQ+ children indicated that their children expressed fears about living in Florida, and 56 percent of parents considered moving out of Florida to protect their LGBTQ+ children from harassment or bullying. As Black and LGBTQ+ youth experience disproportionately higher rates of compounded violence and mental health disorders, these anti-LGBTQ+ school board policies are life-threatening and corporations must take immediate action. 

Join Color Of Change in holding GEICO accountable for demanding #NoPrideBans and that the corporations sever their ties with the FLDOE until it pledges to reinstitute LGBTQ+ students’ rights.

Here is the Petition:

Dear Executives: 

As official business partners of the Florida State Department of Education, your corporation is responsible for ensuring that  more students “are better prepared as they enter the workforce.” However, the FLDOE is denying all students — especially Black and LGBTQ+ students — the safe and inclusive learning environment needed to succeed later in life, and your corporation is enabling it.

School safety impacts students’ academic performance. If your corporation continues to enable the FLDOE’s surveillance of trans/non-binary students, then many Black and LGBTQ+ students could miss out on competitive college scholarships or workplace programs. Furthermore, Black and LGBTQ+ history is an integral part of U.S. history. If your corporation fails to speak out against the FLDOE’s targeted censorship, then all students will lack the resources needed to explore their sexuality and the tools needed to dismantle oppressive systems. 

I am asking that your corporation take action by: 

1. Issuing a public statement condemning the recent expansion of the “Don’t Say Gay” law. 
2. Sending a letter to the Florida Department of Education and its board demanding a rollback of all anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-Black school board policies, including book bans. 
3. Severing ties with the Florida Department of Education and its board until all demands are met.