One-time White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham says her gay teenage son was “ashamed” of her work for former president Donald Trump.
During an appearance as guest host on ABC’s The View on Tuesday, the panel’s discussion turned to Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
The legislation bans “classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity” in elementary schools and passed the state’s Republican-controlled Senate on Tuesday.
Governor Ron DeSantis has championed the bill and will sign it into law soon. Other states are expected to follow, enacting similar legislation.
The hosts of The View were unanimous in their condemnation of the bill for the effect it will have on children, parents, and teachers.
“So is this bill shaming kids from being who they are and punishing teachers who actually want to help them? I mean, I’m not sure what the point of this is,” said Whoopi Goldberg.
Co-host Sara Haines said she thought the bill “isn’t accomplishing anything”.
Miss Haines also said her gay brother recalled feeling different at five or six years old and that is he asked a question he may have been in a situation where a teacher had to betray him.
“I think this is going the wrong direction,” she added.
Ms Goldberg also pointed out the possible issues for children with same-sex parents: “You can’t talk about your weekend with your folks? I don’t understand the point. I don’t understand making kids’ lives harder than they need to be.”
“I think the cruelty is the point,” co-host Sunny Hostin responded.
“It’s to shame family. It’s to shame children,” she continued. “We could see this coming, I think, when you start banning books, when you start banning history in the classroom. What’s the next step? It’s banning discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity. It’s banning discussions about certain religions.”
Ms Hostin then said that the country had been heading in this direction since Donald Trump took office and began to “say the quiet part out loud”.
She turned to Ms Grisham, who said: “This one is personal to me. And you bring up a good point because of my former boss.”
“I have a 14-year-old son who is gay, recently came out as gay. I have his permission to talk about this.”
She continued: “He didn’t want to tell his friends where I worked. He was ashamed of where I worked, rightfully so.”
Ms Grisham added that the Florida bill is “making children feel different” and is “creating a problem” where one did not exist before.
Having served as White House communications director and press secretary, Ms Grisham became press secretary to then-first lady Melania Trump, rising to be her chief of staff.
She resigned on 6 January 2021 in response to the violent storming of the US Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.
The passage of Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” bill follows student walkouts across the state and widespread demands to withdraw the legislation.
Major political donors, most notably the Walt Disney Company, have come under fire for donating to legislators that have endorsed the bill.
Opponents have warned that the bill effectively expands surveillance and censorship aimed at erasing LGBT+ people from classrooms and the workplace, part of a GOP-led effort to strip away civil liberties while drawing teachers and schools into frivolous culture-war-driven lawsuits.
Florida Senator Shevrin Jones, the first openly LGBT+ member of the state Senate, warned that the bill marks “another stain in the history of Florida”.
