Image Credit: screenshot/HBO 
HBO late night comedian Bill Maher defended the Florida’s Republican-backed Parental Rights in Education bill, saying that “there’s a kernal of truth” K-3 students shouldn’t even “shouldn’t be thinking about sex at all.”
“I think it’s only — they’re talking about kindergarten through 3rd grade. So, we’re talking about very young kids, who, as always with this stuff, there’s — not like there’s no kernel of truth in that maybe kids that young shouldn’t be thinking about sex at all,” Maher said on his Friday show “Real Time.”
“It’s not like you’re not allowed to literally not [sic] say gay. But they just don’t want teachers talking about it and they think it’s the province of parents.”
Duke Professor and New York Times Contributing Opinion Writer Frank Bruni pushed back, saying the bill shouldn’t be a top issue for Republicans and that drafting the bill “reeks to me of something that happened on a few occasions and has been blown into something.”
But Maher pointed out that like critical race theory, liberals have been “disingenuous” about what they’re teaching children in classrooms.
“I don’t know about that. Same thing with the race — with the CRT thing. I feel like it’s disingenuous when the liberals say…we just want to teach history,” Maher noted. “It’s not like you can’t mention slavery. They’re talking about something else that is going on. … I don’t know what is going on with the gender as much.”
Maher then showed a CNN article claiming the Florida education bill “could lead to some students being outed to their parents.”
“That phrase struck me as odd, like, outed to parents, like, shouldn’t parents know everything anyway?” Maher asked, adding, “I think in California, it’s the school has more of those rights than the parent.”
“It’s like, we need to protect the student from the parents with the school,” he concluded.
Bruni responded sarcastically, “Yeah, that’s a political winner.”
Indeed, polling on this issue may explain why some Democrats, such as Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke, are beginning to turn against critical race theory and gender issues being taught in schools.
Beto O'Rourke becomes the first prominent Democrat to flip against critical race theory.
"I don't think [CRT] should be taught in our schools."pic.twitter.com/uzlj6uERmw
— Christopher F. Rufo
(@realchrisrufo) March 12, 2022