Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visits 2019 Miami Open at the Hard Rock Stadium in 2019. (Leonard Zhukovsky / Shutterstock.com)
Gideon Rubin
April 12, 2023
A group that’s invested in promoting Florida as a place to live, work and visit, is now advising anyone considering visiting the Sunshine State to stay home.
Equality Florida, a civil rights group that advocates for the LGBTQ community, on Wednesday issued a travel advisory.
In what the group acknowledged in a statement to be an “extraordinary step,” it warned of the risks posed to the health, safety, and freedom of those considering short- or long-term travel, or relocation to Florida amid the “passage of laws that are hostile to the LGBTQ community, restrict access to reproductive health care, repeal gun safety laws, foment racial prejudice, and attack public education by banning books and censoring curriculum.”
The NAACP last week issued a similar travel advisory over the Sunshine State’s African American studies ban.
Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith said in a statement it issued the advisory “with great sadness.”
“As an organization that has spent decades working to improve Florida’s reputation as a welcoming and inclusive place to live work and visit, it is with great sadness that we must respond to those asking if it is safe to travel to Florida or remain in the state as the laws strip away basic rights and freedoms,” Smith said.
“While losing conferences, and top students who have written off Florida threatens lasting damage to our state, it is most heartbreaking to hear from parents who are selling their homes and moving because school censorship, book bans and health care restrictions have made their home state less safe for their children. We understand everyone must weigh the risks and decide what is best for their safety, but whether you stay away, leave or remain we ask that you join us in countering these relentless attacks.Help reimagine and build a Florida that is truly safe for and open to all, and where freedom is a reality, not a hollow campaign slogan.”
The group’s statement alleges that Gov. Ron DeSantis has made “the extremist policies the centerpiece of his” likely presidential campaign strategy, noting that he “has weaponized state agencies to silence critics and impose sanctions on large and small companies that dissent with his culture war agenda or disagree with his attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
(Disclosure: Raw Story/AlterNet CEO John Byrne is a donor to Equality Florida.)
Florida Republican defends anti-drag measure even if it means ‘erasing a community’
Gideon Rubin
April 12, 2023,
Photo by Rochelle Brown on Unsplash
A Florida Republican on Wednesday doubled down on a controversial anti-drag bill.
State Rep. Randy Fine, a proponent of SB 1438, the so-called “Protection of Children Act” that would ban anyone under 18 years of age from attending a drag show, argued during a debate on the House floor that "if it means erasing a community, because you have to target children, then damn right we outta do it."
Fine didn’t identify the community he supports “erasing,” but SB 1438 targets Florida’s LGBTQ community, The New Republic reports.
The bill would also prevent anyone under 18 from attending The Rocky Horror Picture Show or the musical Hair, the report said.
Rep. Angela Nixon, a Florida Democrat, said under the law she can’t take her child to the Hamburger Mary’s restaurant, which according to its website features entertainment including a “Dining with the Divas” drag show.
Fine said he’s OK with that.
“If Hamburger Mary’s, whatever they are, is engaged in ‘adult live performances’ as defined by section 827.11 under this bill, then yeah, you couldn’t do that. I don’t know whether they are or not,” Fine said.
Nixon called the measure “disgusting.”
“This is a disgusting bill and is designed to target parents like me,” Nixon said.
“It will – like everything – be selectively enforced by the state to target members of the LGBTQ community, as we’ve already seen, with DPBR taking away licenses of venues that host drag shows – that were not lewd and that were very family friendly.”
Gideon Rubin
April 12, 2023,
Photo by Rochelle Brown on Unsplash
A Florida Republican on Wednesday doubled down on a controversial anti-drag bill.
State Rep. Randy Fine, a proponent of SB 1438, the so-called “Protection of Children Act” that would ban anyone under 18 years of age from attending a drag show, argued during a debate on the House floor that "if it means erasing a community, because you have to target children, then damn right we outta do it."
Fine didn’t identify the community he supports “erasing,” but SB 1438 targets Florida’s LGBTQ community, The New Republic reports.
The bill would also prevent anyone under 18 from attending The Rocky Horror Picture Show or the musical Hair, the report said.
Rep. Angela Nixon, a Florida Democrat, said under the law she can’t take her child to the Hamburger Mary’s restaurant, which according to its website features entertainment including a “Dining with the Divas” drag show.
Fine said he’s OK with that.
“If Hamburger Mary’s, whatever they are, is engaged in ‘adult live performances’ as defined by section 827.11 under this bill, then yeah, you couldn’t do that. I don’t know whether they are or not,” Fine said.
Nixon called the measure “disgusting.”
“This is a disgusting bill and is designed to target parents like me,” Nixon said.
“It will – like everything – be selectively enforced by the state to target members of the LGBTQ community, as we’ve already seen, with DPBR taking away licenses of venues that host drag shows – that were not lewd and that were very family friendly.”
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