Florida’s Anti-LGBTQ+ Culture War: Navigating the Politics of Cruelty Through Counter-Hegemonic Praxis

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Abstract

This critical policy analysis undertakes a critical textual and discourse analysis of Florida’s anti-LGBTQ+ legislation Framing contemporary censorship as part of the ongoing history of struggle for educational equity in the nation, the study is grounded in a perspective of research as counter-hegemonic praxis that is autoethnographic as the authors analyze the text and interpretations of selected laws to reveal the impact of and responses to the laws in their professional practice. Results reveal how the laws inflicted targeted cruelty in a politically-driven culture war, used vagueness, confusion and fear as strategies for implementation while responses included institutional silence as well as skilled professional navigation among educators versed in critical pedagogy and multiculturalism.

Authors

• Dilys Schoorman, Florida Atlantic University

• Kylle Elizabeth Summers, Liberty University

• Peyton Sibert, Florida Atlantic University