On 3/9/2021, Volusia County Schools has attempted to pass its first ever resolution in the history of the school district to recognize LGBTQ+ Health week this year. However, when introduced in the meeting, all board members but Carl Persis have rejected it, siding with the onslaught of false, homophobic, transphobic information that the room was flooded with by several public speakers during the meeting.

The resolution just involved recognizing the existence of the week, acknowledging that LGBTQ+ youth often have their mental and physical health neglected, and that they were going to do better. Instead, angry parents pushed falsehoods that the school board is "indoctrinating" their children and that this is an exclusionary holiday.

LGBT youth are almost five times as likely to have attempted suicide compared to heterosexual youth. They are always forced to listen to disinformation that proclaims that "It's just a fetish" or "You can just choose to be straight" every day, with such falsehoods being pushed today by the rather homophobic public speakers. It's no wonder why they have higher suicide rates than others, they are not only stigmatized like this, but they have inadequate access to mental health services. If the districts wishes to claim that it's doing more to help the spike of mental health incidents over the years, it must recognize this resolution.

The school board staff knew what they were doing when they agreed to not recognize Carl Persis's resolution. Even worse, they attempted to justify them not passing the resolution, while proclaiming not to be homophobic. As said by Ruben Colón, “Just because we pass or don't pass this resolution doesn't necessarily mean that we are homophobic, and I take offense to that, because I have lots of friends that I love dearly", but there is no such thing as refusing to pass this resolution while claiming to not be homophobic, as all it consisted of was a simple recognition. And for Jamie Haynes saying “Saying, well, this week is for this and this week is for that — we started dividing kids instead of saying we're here to meet the needs of all children”, we've recognized other things in the past, from crossing guard week to school breakfast week; Music in our schools week to African American history month. There is no "Dividing kids", as we are all unique humans. If we can recognize anyone, then recognizing the need for equal health for LGBTQ+ youth is definitely valid.

Human rights are not a joke, every human being has the right to not be discriminated against; to be able to receive equal healthcare regardless of sexuality or gender identity, and homophobes have disgraced the basis of this nation recognizing all equally. The LGBTQ+ community accepts all, no matter their race, gender, or religion. Resolutions in the past recognized Black history month, Hispanic Heritage month, and Native American Heritage month, so lets continue the mission of recognizing the right to receive equal health care for all Americans.

We hope that everyone can encourage Carl Persis, the creator of the original resolution; and Linda Cuthbert, a supporter of the resolution, to continue to fight to pass the resolution. And for the school board members, we plead for you to change your ways and consider fostering an inclusive and nurturing school environment, despite the obvious backlash a few angry parents have displayed at the meeting.

Don't let a couple of angry, hateful parents get in the way of making a equal, better 21st century education for all students. Do the right thing and pass this resolution.

And for those reading this petition, it has been a common misconception for the opponents of this resolution to say that this is a change to the curriculum taught in schools; Nowhere in the resolution does it mention this. The petition is a simple recognition of a LGBTQ+ health awareness week, which happens over spring break, when students aren't even in school. This is not a curriculum change of any sort, nor is it a forced event being put into schools.

If you would like the read the original resolution itself, you may do so here: https://go.boarddocs.com/fla/vcsfl/Board.nsf/files/BYDPE262B6F5/$file/LGBTQ%2B%20health%20awareness%20week.pdf