Watch: Florida Father Sues School over Pride Flag under 'Don't Say Gay' Law

A man in Florida is suing his son's school because, he says, teachers displayed Pride flags in their classrooms, local news channel WPBF reported.

The man, Frank Deliu, is suing under the provisions of Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law, which empowers parents to sue schools if they believe that the law is being broken.

According to the WPBF report, Deliu said that his son, 12, told him that "his computer science teacher had put up a couple of gay pride flags in his classroom, somewhere on the wall," and, when a schoolmate "asked about the flags... the teacher did an online search and explained something about gay pride, which Deliu objects to."

"It is not the school's function to propagandize my child with individual teachers' beliefs, because that's the danger," Deliu told WPBF. "One teacher might be in favor of gay pride. The next one might be against gay pride. Do we just have random symbols of what each teacher feels like putting up in terms of indoctrinating our children on social or political or religious issues? I don't think we should."

The Advocate, which reviewed the suit, reports that Deliu's "complaint also mentions right-wing buzzwords and grievances of 'breaches to their human rights...due to Covid-19 lockdowns, mask, social distancing and vaccine mandates.'"

"Deliu was a lawyer in New Zealand but is not licensed to practice law in Florida," The Advocate noted. "In 2017, he was fined $250,000 for 'appalling' misconduct by a New Zealand court, and his law license was suspended for 15 months."

Florida's law – which has served as a blueprint for similar anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in other states – criminalizes classroom discussion of LGBTQ+ issues through third grade, at which point students are typically eight or nine years old. Critics of the law say that it could be used to silence and marginalize LGBTQ+ students and staff, as well as those with LGBTQ+ family members, in every grade and prove detrimental to children's mental health.

Indeed, across the country the prospect – or reality – of such laws spreading to their own states has left LGBTQ+ youth feeling "crushed," USA Today reported last May.

To watch the WPBF news clip, follow this link.