A crowd of parents outside Duval County Public Schools holding signs that say "Support Parents"A crowd of parents outside Duval County Public Schools holding signs that say "Support Parents"
Some parents have been advocating for the removal of LGBTQ+ resources at recent Duval School Board meetings.

Florida legislator, who sponsored ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, resigns amid federal fraud charges

Published on December 9, 2022 at 10:16 am

A Republican Florida lawmaker, who authored the controversial law dubbed “Don’t Say Gay,” resigned Thursday, the day after he was indicted for defrauding the federal coronavirus loan program for small businesses.

In a lengthy post on Facebook on Thursday, state Rep. Joe Harding, R-Williston, said he was immediately resigning from his House seat and talked about his work representing his constituents. He declined to talk about the federal indictment against him.

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“It has been a great honor to serve the people of this state and more specifically the people of Levy and Marion Counties,” Harding said. “However, due to legal issues that require my complete focus, it is my opinion that now is the time to allow someone else to serve my district.”

Read the rest of this story from Jacksonville Today news partner The Florida Times-Union.