Florida teacher facing investigation for screening Disney movie with gay character to students

A Florida teacher is facing an investigation by the state Department of Education after she screened a Disney movie with a gay character to her students in the classroom, she said.

Jenna Barbee, a fifth-grade teacher at Winding Waters School in Hernando County, defended her decision to play the movie “Strange World” in a video statement on TikTok.

Barbee said she screened the PG-rated movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal to give students a break after exams.

She claimed that all her students had parent-signed permission slips to watch PG movies. However, a parent and school board member later objected to the film’s inclusion of an LGBTQ character.

The school board member, identified as Shannon Rodriguez by the Tallahassee Democrat, reported Barbee to the Department of Education for indoctrination, the educator alleged.

Barbee is now under investigation for potential violations of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ so-called “Don’t say gay” law which bans teachings about gender and sexual identity to students in Florida public schools.

But the teacher said she showed the movie because it incorporated lessons about earth science and ecosystems that her students were learning about in the curriculum. She also said the movie includes social and emotional lessons like “overcoming differences, spreading kindness, communication and chasing you dreams.”

“Is a character in the movie LGBTQ? Absolutely. Is that why I showed it? No,” Barbee said.

“I have a lot of fifth-grade students who have come to me this year long before showing this movie talking about how they’re part of this community as well and it’s not a big deal to me so I said OK that’s awesome, you do you. Not pushing anything, just being accepting. That’s what I do.”

The animated film includes a central character named Ethan Clade who is gay and has a crush on another male character as a small side plot.

Barbee said Rodriguez — an apparent member of the rightwing group Moms for Liberty — has plotted a “rampage to get rid of every form of representation out of our schools” as a school board member.

“It is not a teacher’s job to impose their beliefs upon a child,” Rodriguez said at a school board meeting last week, according to the local publication. “Allowing movies such as this assist teachers in opening a door for conversations that have no place in our classroom.”

However, Barbee said her students didn’t think anything of the gay character until the investigation began and they were interrogated by state investigators one by one.

“Do you know the trauma that is going to cause to some of my students?” Barbee said. “Some of them can barely come and have a conversation with me, and are just getting comfortable with me, and now an investigator is allowed to come and interrogate them. Are you kidding me? What is that showing them?”