BOCA RATON, Fla. — College students across Florida staged a walkout Thursday to show their support for the LGBTQ+ community, including students at Florida Atlantic University.
Organizers with Stand for Freedom Florida said Gov. Ron DeSantis' recent request for all public universities to deliver data from student health services on transgender students who sought gender-affirming care at the institution, was an attack on the LGBTQ+ community.
Ben Braver with Stand for Freedom Florida said they believe thousands of students from several universities took part.
Students taking part in the walkout at FAU said following the requests from the DeSantis administration, they feel their education is at stake.
"There's a lot of fear, there's a lot of panic," a student told WPTV.
"Frankly, I think it's way out of line, very inappropriate," another student said. "I think it's an attack on free speech, attack on students autonomy as far as ideology."
The spokesperson for FAU did not say whether or not the university complied with the governor's request.
The deadline to submit the records was Feb. 10.
"It's starting to feel like our education is being encroached upon," an FAU student said.
"Since the anti-woke movement by DeSantis and the Florida government has started, the classroom looks so different," one student said. "I have teachers that are now afraid to say things."
FAU professor Christopher Robe also attended the walkout Thursday. He voiced concerns about the overall impacts on education when there is an attempt by the government to control it.
"We as faculty have to respond to their needs, to addressing their different cultures and their different perspectives," he said. "So, to spend 20 years of trying to do that and being more responsive to students, and then hearing from people in the government that we should not respond to these students' demands, is really insulting the students."
WPTV contacted DeSantis' office for comment. They directed WPTV to his previous statements which state in part:
"The legislation will refocus Florida's public colleges and universities on preparing students to be contributing members of society..."
