'Say Gay' billboards that defy Gov. Ron DeSantis' so-called Don't Say Gay bill are about to be popping up in Florida cities

• A bill critics call "Don't Say Gay" awaits Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' signature.
• A left-leaning super PAC is responding with "SAY GAY" billboards in Florida cities.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will soon sign the so-called Don't Say Gay bill, but Floridians will be seeing defiant billboards that say it in big, bold capital letters.

"SAY GAY," the billboards will read.

The left-leaning super PAC, Southern Progress, is placing the first billboards in the Florida cities of Tallahassee, Orlando, and Jacksonville, starting on Friday for a month, and the group expects to add more advertising as its fundraising continues.

It's the latest ad campaign to push back against a flurry of bills in Republican-led states that target the LGBTQ+ community. Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has said that "relatively soon" he will sign the bill, which supporters call "Parental Rights in Education."

The legislation has angered the LGBTQ+ community and its supporters across the country and some are moving to act.

"Ron DeSantis and Florida Republicans have pissed us all off," tweeted Adam Parkhomenko, a Virginia-based Democratic strategist working on the campaign, with a photo of the ads. "So this week we are going to cover the state of Florida in these, in response."

The bill is called "Don't Say Gay" by opponents because it would restrict classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in schools, and parents could sue school districts for violating the bill. It also would require schools to notify parents if students' support services change, a provision that LGBTQ+ advocates say could result in "outing" students to their parents and potentially endangering them.

"Understand, if you are out protesting this bill you are by definition putting yourself in favor of injecting sexual instruction to 5-, 6- and 7-year-old kids," DeSantis said during a Tuesday press conference. "I think most people think that's wrong. I think parents especially think that's wrong."

'Nothing to do with protecting children.'

President Joe Biden has called the bill "hateful." Disney published a statement "in solidarity" with the LGBTQIA+ community as employees staged a walkout in protest of CEO Bob Chapek not taking an aggressive enough position against the bill.

Amanda Crumley, a co-founder of Southern Progress, called anti-LGBTQ+ bills across the country "an unconscionable, dangerous, and coordinated attack on LGBTQ Americans." The PAC describes exposing Republicans' "extremist agenda" as part of its mission.

"And don't be fooled, these types of bills have nothing to do with protecting children and everything to do with discrimination and filling GOP coffers in an election year," Crumley wrote in an email to Insider.

Ally Sammarco, another strategist volunteering on the project, thanked everyone on Twitter for making the ads possible, "especially Ron DeSantis for being a terrible person."

In response to Insider's request for comment, Christina Pushaw, a spokesperson for a DeSantis, said, "'DC strategists' are irrelevant in Florida."

It's not just in Florida that LGBTQ+ rights and protections are under attack. The Human Rights Campaign is tracking more than 266 bills it considers "anti-LGBTQ+" that are under consideration in state legislatures across the country. Of those, at least 125 directly target transgender people and nearly half of those — more than 57 bills — would ban transgender youth from participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity, according to HRC.

In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott directed state authorities to investigate parents for child abuse if their transgender children are receiving gender-affirming medical care. A Texas judge blocked the directive, but Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed the order, tweeting "Much-needed investigations proceed as they should. This fight will continue up to the Supreme Court. I'm ready for it."

The Southern Progress campaign isn't the only response to these efforts. An Ohio-based nonprofit called "Have a Gay Day" launched a campaign with 20 billboards across the country in March to spread "messages of love," the Los Angeles Blade reported.

"YOU ARE LOVED," reads one billboard, the Blade reported. Another: "Be careful who you hate, it could be someone you love."