5th-grade Florida teacher under investigation for showing Disney movie with gay character

A fifth-grade teacher in Florida is being investigated by her school district after showing her students the Disney movie "Strange World," which features a gay character. Administrators say the teacher did not seek proper permission to show the movie, while the teacher said the investigation is an "abuse of power," according to Fox News.

The cartoon movie includes a gay character named Ethan Clade, played by openly gay comedian Jaboukie Young-White.

Jenna Barbee is a first-year teacher at Winding Waters K-8 in Hernando County, Florida, and the Hernando County School District has initiated an investigation into her for showing the movie.

Barbee said she believed that she was only required to have signed permission slips in order to show PG-rated movies to students, which she claimed she had.

A school board member said, however, that the teacher did not get approval from either the principal or the administrators, and both are required for a movie to be shown.

Barbee said in a TikTok video that students were not shown the movie because it had a gay character, but rather because the students were learning about the earth and ecosystems.

The teacher went on to explain that she was outed for showing the movie when a female student told her mother that students watched it and that student happened to be the daughter of school board member Shannon Rodriguez.

The teacher reportedly took shots at Rodriguez during a May 9, 2023, school board meeting, saying she had been abusing her power as a school board member rather than acting as a concerned parent.

"The word indoctrination is thrown around a lot right now, but it seems that those who are using it are using it as a defense tactic for their own fear-based belief without understanding the true meaning of the word," Barbee said. "The craziest thing about this is the abuse of power she is allowed to use and that nothing is being done about it."

Rodriguez said at the meeting that her ability to initiate a conversation with her child about the "birds and the bees" was taken from her, as was the ability to determine when that conversation should happen.

"I want to embark on those conversations by not following policy and procedure," Rodriguez said. "Ms. Barbee stripped me of my right as a parent to have those conversations prematurely."

The investigation is ongoing.

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