Trans teacher launches GoFundMe to ‘escape Florida’ crackdown on LGBTQ indoctrination in classrooms

Stone, a high school history and English teacher, said he has to ditch the state "before it's too late" and hopes to raise $15,000 by June. He cited Florida's parental rights bill that prohibits the forced use of pronouns in classrooms, the banning of certain books written by "queer authors," which were axed for inappropriate sexually explicit content, and a recent court ruling that decided sex-change procedures could be excluded from Medicaid coverage.

"My partner and I are trying to raise funds to get out of Florida this Summer. I'm a trans woman and a lesbian, but I'm also a public school teacher in Orlando," Stone wrote on GoFundMe. "I have had indignity upon indignity heaped upon me, and had more and more of my autonomy as an educator stripped away. I stayed even as things started to get bad because I wanted to make a difference. But we're getting priced out of the city, and some of the things advancing through various state legislatures have made me realize it's time to get out before it's too late. We have until June to raise the money to move to Maryland."

For Stone, it all started in 2022 when he planned to come out as transgender to his students, the year Stone began transitioning from male to female. However, his plans were thwarted shortly after when the state passed the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, referred to by Democrats as the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

Stone told the Advocate that the law prohibits teachers from providing "a student his or her preferred personal title or pronouns" if the pronouns do not match the educator's birth sex. "I could have my teaching certificate revoked. I can't even speak up for myself. I can't defend myself," the teacher said. "Sometimes kids get wise and figure out that I'm trans and they do it intentionally, and there is nothing that can be done."

"I'm constantly having to self-police everything I say," he continued. "Is this going to be the thing that gets me on Fox News and gets my teaching certificate revoked?"

Stone also pointed to a West Virginia court ruling that decided sex-change procedures, or "gender-affirming care," can be excluded from Medicaid coverage. Stone explained on GoFundMe that he is "worried Florida will jump on this opportunity and pass something before the end of the current legislative session, thus making it prohibitively difficult to continue obtaining HRT."

"I no longer believe that waiting for my current lease to be up and the current school year to be over will be safe," he said. "I can deal with indignity, but the prospect of losing access to my meds is horrifying."

Additionally, the educator told Gayety that the state's ban on books from certain queer authors has harmed him. "To comply with these rules is to teach poorly. I must allow myself to be degraded and do a worse job as a teacher," he said, adding, "It's devastating."

Stone has since raised over $9,400 on his GoFundMe since the time this report was published.