Jenna Barbee teaches in her first year as a teacher.

DLNews Staff:

REQUIREMENTS FOR LGBTQ LAWS IN FLORIDA

A teacher shows fifth graders a Disney movie - now she's facing harsh consequences!

Say what?

Jenna Barbee showed her students, ages ten to eleven, the Disney movie "Strange World." It's about a family of adventurers who embark on a dangerous science fiction mission to a new world where someone is out to get them at every turn.

The Winding Waters School in Hernando County, Florida.

The main character in the movie, Ethan Clade, faces a challenge due to the location of his school in Brooksville, Florida. The state's Republican Governor, Ron DeSantis, has implemented the "Don't say gay" law, which prevents teachers from discussing gender and sexual identity with their students.

And that's why the local school board is investigating teacher Jenna Barbee!

Barbee said she wanted to show the film to give her students a break after a morning of exams. It was also crucial for geography lessons. She even got the consent of all the parents!

In a six-minute video statement on TikTok, the teacher defends herself:

"I have a lot of fifth graders who have come to me this year, long before I showed the film, and told me they are part of the LGBTQ community. To me, that's not a big deal. So I said, "Okay, great, I'm not pushing anything; I'm just accepting. That's what I do," Barbee explains.

During a school board meeting, Shannon Rodriguez criticized the teacher. She is not only a mother but also a school board member and a member of a right-wing group called Moms for Liberty. Rodriguez shares the controversial views of Ron DeSantis and wants books she deems "filthy" and "pornographic" to be taken off school shelves.

But in doing so, she speaks for a minority, as there is an online petition to get her out of office. More than 2000 people have already signed.