The Florida Department of Education (DOE) is investigating fifth-grade teacher Jenna Barbee after she showed a Disney movie with a gay character to her students on May 3. The movie of 2022 strange world follows a family of explorers on an adventure and features an openly gay teenager, Ethan Clade, who develops a crush on his friend Diazo.
Parent and school board member Shannon Rodriguez reported the incident to the state DOE and the Hernando County School District north of Tampa, where Barbee teaches. The district sent a note on May 4 to parents informing them that their children had seen the film.
“Yesterday Disney Movie strange worldd been shown in your child’s class,” reads the letter, shared with Hyperallergic by Hernando County School District spokeswoman Karen Jordan. “Although not the main plot of the film, some parts of the story involve a male character having and expressing feelings for another male character. Going forward, this film will not air.
The memo adds that the district’s professional standards department is reviewing the matter to decide whether to take corrective action. Barbee, however, said CNN she had resigned from her position a week before even showing the film, citing “politics and the fear of not being able to be who you are”.
Screening strange world could violate Florida’s 2022 Declaration of Parental Rights, the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill championed by Governor Ron DeSantis that restricts classroom discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation. The bill initially applied to kindergarten to grade three, but was extended last month to encompass all grades up to high school students. For a teacher, breaking the rule is an offense that can result in the suspension or revocation of their teaching license. Today DeSantis signed into law yet another expansion that restricts reproductive health education as well as a law banning transitional care for minors.
On May 11, Barbee’s friend Tweeted a letter from the DOE to Barbee informing her that she was under investigation. The Tweet went viral. (A DOE spokesperson said Hyperallergic that he could neither confirm nor deny whether the investigation was ongoing.)
Three days later, Barbee posted a TikTok chronicling the situation and explaining that she had sent home a clearance slip for PG-rated movies. She hasn’t replied yet. Hyperallergic request for comment.
In the video, Barbee explains that her students “didn’t bat an eyelid” until the school and the state made the film an issue. She also says she chose to show strange love because it was tied to the class’s Earth Science unit and teaches lessons about overcoming differences and spreading kindness.
“I’ve never seen that perspective before,” Barbee said in the video of Rodriguez’s complaint about the gay character. “So I didn’t think it was a big deal.” The teacher also explains that her role as a teacher is to be a safe presence for all of her students, some of whom have told her that they are LGBTQ+.
Now, Barbee says, a DOE investigator is pulling his students out of the classroom one by one for questioning.
If the depressing debacle sounds familiar, it might be because a similar scenario unfolded in March when a Florida charter school principal resigned amid complaints from parents that an art teacher had shown their children Michelangelo’s ‘David’ (1501-1504).
