When Queerguru’s Brit Editor-In-Chief first moved to Florida in the late 1990’s, it was still a true Blue State. However, the last Democratic Governor was Lawton Chiles, who actually died whilst still in Office in 1998, and after his tenure, all his successors have been Republican, including Jeb Bush, the son of a US President and the brother of another one. After Bush’s two terms, Florida elected Charlie Crist, who in 2009 was the subject of OUTRAGE, an HBO documentary that claims to expose closeted homosexuality among elected officials who have taken stances against gay rights issues – including, it says, Crist.
Gov Crist’s record on LGBTQA+ rights always seemed a ‘work in progress.’ After previously supporting a 2008 constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in Florida, Crist publicly apologized in 2014, saying, “I made a mistake. I’m not perfect… It was wrong. By 2013, as an Independent and later a Democrat, Crist announced his support for marriage equality and eventually filed an amicus brief supporting a lawsuit against Florida’s ban. During his 2022 gubernatorial campaign against Ron DeSantis, Crist slammed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill as “unconscionable” and pledged to work towards its repeal.
DeSantis is unquestionably the most conservative Governor Florida has ever had, and his actions got even more extreme after Trump beat him for the candidacy for President in 2024. In his campaign, DeSantis shared a video on social media, criticized by some as homophobic, that attacked rival Trump for past support of gay and transgender people. DeSantis defended the video, which highlighted his own restrictive actions on LGBTQ+ issues compared to Trump’s, by stating it was “fair game” to challenge Trump’s stance on gender ideology. Even the Log Cabin Republicans, a group representing LGBTQ+ ultra conservatives, criticized his campaign tactics as “divisive” and “homophobic”.
As governor and a candidate, he signed and supported legislation banning gender-affirming care for minors and restricting transgender individuals’ use of bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity. He gained national attention for signing Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act, often dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which restricted discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. Following Disney’s public opposition to the “Don’t Say Gay” law, DeSantis took steps to dissolve Disney’s self-governing district and later installed a new board to oversee its theme park properties.
Plus, he has found time to sign legislation banning gender-affirming care for minors, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, and created barriers for adults seeking such care, such as prohibiting nurse practitioners from prescribing it and barring insurance coverage. Then he signed legislation (HB 1521) that requires transgender individuals to use public restrooms and changing facilities corresponding with their sex assigned at birth.
Plus he signed legislation (SB 1438) aimed at restricting “adult live performances” in the presence of minors, which was widely seen as targeting drag shows. Also, he supported the “Stop WOKE Act,” which limits how race and gender are discussed in schools and workplaces. He has also moved to remove DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives from state universities.
The latest news from our once True Blue State is even worse. The Florida House of Representatives has just voted 77-37 to approve an “Anti-Diversity in Local Government” bill that opponents have called an extreme and sweeping measure that, among other things, could overturn local LGBTQ rights protections. The vote came six days after the Florida Senate voted 25-11 to pass the same bill, opening the way to send it to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who supports the bill and has said he would sign it into law.
Equality Florida, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization that opposed the legislation, issued a statement saying the bill “would ban, repeal, and defund any local government programming, policy, or activity that provides ‘preferential treatment or special benefits’ or is designed or implemented with respect to race, color, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity.”The statement added that the bill would also threaten city and county officials with removal from office “for activities vaguely labeled as DEI,” with only limited exceptions.
“Written in broad and ambiguous language, the bill is the most extreme of its kind in the country, creating confusion and fear for local governments that recognize LGBTQ residents and other communities that contribute to strength and vibrancy of Florida cities,” the group said in a separate statement released on March 10.
“Debate over the bill made expressly clear that LGBTQ people were a central target of the legislation,” the group’s statement says. “The public record, the bill sponsors’ own statements, and hours of legislative debate revealed the animus driving the effort to pressure local governments into pulling back from recognizing or resourcing programs targeting LGBTQ residents and other historically marginalized communities,” the statement says.
The statement adds, “Florida’s LGBTQ community knows all too well how to fight back against unjust laws. Just as we did, following the passage of Florida’s notorious ‘Don’t Say Gay or Trans’ law, we will fight every step of the way to limit the impact of this legislation, including in the courts.”]
| “Once again, Gov. DeSantis and Florida lawmakers are advancing one of the most sweeping and extreme bills in the country — this time threatening decades of local progress supporting diverse communities, including the LGBTQ community,” said Equality Florida Senior Political Director Joe Saunders. “This legislation is a sledgehammer aimed at cities and counties that recognize and address the diversity of the people they serve,” he said. |
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