Florida billboards urge people to 'say gay' after state's controversial new bill

A political action committee led a billboard campaign urging people to "say gay" after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed legislation on Monday that blocks classroom instruction related to gender identity and sexual orientation by primary teachers, NBC News reported.

In Tallahassee, Jacksonville and Orlando, billboards have been propped up encouraging people to "say gay" after the Parental Rights in Education bill - known among opponents as the "Don't Say Gay" bill - was signed on Monday, the network reported.

The billboard campaign, led by the Southern Progress PAC, targets the legislation, which stops certain kinds of classroom instruction from being conducted by primary teachers and bars instruction on subjects not "age appropriate or developmentally appropriate" from teachers of all grades.

The legislation is set to take effect on July 1; shortly after the signing, Disney vowed to support efforts to repeal the law.

"Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that," a Walt Disney Company spokesperson said in a statement.

That led DeSantis to push back against the company, claiming in remarks on Tuesday that the company's statement "crossed the line."

"For Disney to come out and put a statement and say that the bill should have never passed and that they are going to actively work to repeal it, I think, one, was fundamentally dishonest, but, two, I think that crossed the line," DeSantis said.

"This state is governed by the interests of the people of the state of Florida. It is not based on the demands of California corporate executives," the Florida Republican noted. "They do not run this state. They do not control this state."

The Hill has reached out to Southern Progress PAC for comment.