Florida students can't take AP Psychology thanks to DeSantis' anti-LGBTQ+ crusade

Gov. Ron DeSantis has once again met an organization he can’t push around—and this time, the result is that Florida high school students won’t be able to take Advanced Placement Psychology. Thanks to the expansion of DeSantis’ signature “Don’t Say Gay” law to high schools, AP Psychology content on “how sex and gender influence socialization and other aspects of development”—a basic body of material that has been part of the course for decades—is now banned by law in Florida. Without that material, the College Board says, the course should not be considered for college credit, which is the whole point of AP classes. Therefore, the course cannot be taught in Florida.

”We are sad to have learned that today the Florida Department of Education has effectively banned AP Psychology in the state by instructing Florida superintendents that teaching foundational content on sexual orientation and gender identity is illegal under state law,” the College Board said in a statement. “The state has said districts are free to teach AP Psychology only if it excludes any mention of these essential topics.”

There’s a solid reason for the College Board refusing to bend here.