Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis throws markers into the audience after signing various bills during a bill signing ceremony at the Coastal Community Church at Lighthouse Point May 16 in Lighthouse Point, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
On Thursday, May 18 — the same day that the New York Times published a breaking news report noting that “Disney is pulling the plug on a nearly $1 billion development planned for Orlando” because of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ attacks on the company, costing the area an estimated 2,000 new jobs — organizers for Tampa Pride on the River announced they are cancelling the event because of the recent expansion of what Republicans call the “Parental Rights in Education Act” and everybody else calls the “Don’t Say Gay” law.
Tampa Pride on the River, originally scheduled for September, traditionally attracts tens of thousands of visitors to Tampa’s Riverwalk and Armature Works area and was one of the region’s largest Pride celebrations.
HB-1438, which DeSantis signed into law on Wednesday, May 17, allows the state to “fine, suspend, or revoke the license of any public lodging establishment or public food service establishment if the establishment admits a child to an adult live performance.”
Even though drag is not explicitly mentioned in the new law, a handout from DeSantis’ office specifically states that drag shows are considered live adult performances “without serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for the age of the child present,”according to News Channel 8 in Tampa.
Tampa Pride President Carrie West explained that drag queens perform in the open at Tampa Pride on the River, putting the festival and its participants and organizers in jeopardy of violating DeSantis’ latest law attacking the LGBTQ community.
The Don’t Say Gay law expansion was one of four anti-LGBTQ measures DeSantis signed on Wednesday during a ceremony at a private Christian school in Miami, Lambda Legal noted in a press release. The other three were “a gender-affirming care ban (SB 254) with sweeping impacts on transgender youth and adults; an anti-drag bill (SB 1438) seeking to censor art; and a bill restricting transgender students from accessing bathrooms aligned with their gender identity in K-12 schools and public facilities (HB 1521).”
Kristine Kippins, Lambda Legal’s deputy legal director for policy, pointed out that DeSantis had signed the homophobic and transphobic legislation on International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.
In doing so, she said, DeSantis is “demonstrating an intentional, callous disregard for LGBTQ+ Floridians and, in particular, trans youth by facilitating homophobia and transphobia and exposing this most vulnerable population to discrimination, harassment and abuse.
“This heinous and horrific move is but the latest step in a sweeping campaign of hate and discrimination by the DeSantis administration against LGBTQ+ people for crass political gain,” Kippens continued. “Let’s be clear, these laws will deny transgender people access to health care, will criminalize and put LGBTQ+ lives in danger, will suppress or cancel LGBTQ+ events such as Pride parades and festivals, will censor LGBTQ+ content in schools, and will invite violence and abuse across the state. By signing these bills on this day, Gov. DeSantis is enshrining his hateful motives into law at the cost of the needs, lives, and futures of Florida’s children.”
— Tammye Nash
Even though Florida is the “South”, some of these laws represent a step backwards. As Americans, we shouldn’t support the stereotyping or caricature of people falsely. The governor and some of his allies do not represent the idea of less government conservatism very well with his attacks on business and personal rights. I hope mainstream Republicans see this for what it is, as a personal attack on the freedoms of Americans, and a disregard for the better judgement of business.