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Nikki Haley Vows to One-Up DeSantis’ ‘Don't Say Gay’ Law

The Republican presidential candidate thinks the controversial law, which limits classroom discussion on gender and sexuality, doesn’t go far enough.

Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley is calling out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law... for doing too little. Haley, who recently announced her bid for the Republican nomination in 2024, said at an event in New Hampshire that the law banning teachers from talking about gender and sexual orientation before fourth grade doesn’t go “far enough.” “We should not be talking to kids in elementary school about gender, period,” Haley said in an interview with Fox News after the event. DeSantis, who is widely expected to announce his own presidential campaign, has received significant backlash for the law, which critics say limits’ teachers’ freedom of expression in the classroom and stigmatizes the LGBT community. Haley added that conversations about gender are a “decision for parents to make,” echoing rhetoric that Republicans have used to justify attempts to limit classroom discussion on race, gender, and sexuality, and to ban library books that conservatives deem inappropriate.