Florida schools are removing books with LGBTQ characters from libraries, taking down rainbow flags, and canceling LGBTQ History Month. This is all due to the infamous Parental Rights in Education Act, also known as "Don't Say Gay," signed into law by DeSantis last year. But for many Florida Republican officials, "Don't Say Gay" doesn't go far enough.
When Ron DeSantis says “freedom”, he means “My way or the highway.”
I would like the Democrats to pay more attention to Florida & fight back. There are a lot of voters in Florida that don’t support his agenda, but there are more registered Republicans (36%) than Democrats (34%). We need to reach out to those voters who have no party affiliation (28%) & show them that the Democratic agenda helps everyone.
Disney, as a major corporate donor nationwide, could have a profound impact on all these anti-LGBTQ moves nationwide. A simple statement that Disney would no longer contribute to ANY Republican anywhere until ALL Republicans stopped their oppressive measures would help immensely. Imagine the peer pressure those Republicans used to collecting Disney dollars would put on their colleagues. If a company like Disney did it there would soon be pressure on other large corporate donors to do the same.
Likewise, Disney should look at what other contributions/economic impact it makes in FL. No more community events. No more charitable contributions. No more buying from local vendors. “Sorry Floridians, especially Orlando area citizens. But we aren’t feeling loved or respected or valued by the politicians you put in power. We are also concerned about our bottom line as a result. Therefore we’ll be ending any expenditures here in FL.” Most tourists who are from outside FL won’t care and perhaps those in FL will bring pressure to bear on the politicians behind all these mean-spirited measures.
Disney is the 800 pound gorilla here. They should start acting like it.
To repeat a point I keep making, this is what Republicans under GOVERNOR DeSantis are doing. Can you imagine what would happen in Washington D.C. if he becomes President DeSantis??????
I often feel a sense of disbelief that this could be happening in this country. Don’t get me wrong- I very clearly know that it is happening. It is hard to watch the “free state of Florida” turn into an autocracy right before my very eyes.
Are the people of Florida simply nodding their heads in assent and happily going along with all of this? I often wondered how/why the people of Germany went along with the nazi takeover. Perhaps in Florida we are watching how that type of takeover plays out. Little by little in a relentless fashion.
Florida’s education system is vastly underperforming. A close look at ‘the Nation’s Report Card’ shows how Florida fails its students as they move up through the grades. A few years ago, just before COVID hit, a Stanford University study of state-level standardized tests showed that Florida’s “learning rate” was the worst in the country — by a wide margin. Florida students learned 12 percent less EACH YEAR from third to eighth grade than the national average from 2009 to 2018. Florida’s students perform worse as they move up through the grades. There is consistent, massive systemic regression with age.
So, not only is it now dangerous for pregnant women to travel to or through a Republican controlled state in case they suffer a pregnancy complication, it will now be hazardous for LGBTQ folk to travel to or through states like Florida in case they inadvertently break one of these egregious and blatantly discriminatory laws. It is known that random violence against LGBTQ folk increases in places where these types of laws are in place. And will a gay couple from Europe who have booked a holiday at Disneyworld arrive at their hotel only to be kicked out when the hotel staff realizes they are gay? Or will they be arrested for holding hands or snogging where children are present? Governments and travel companies worldwide should start preparing travel advisories so that pregnant and LGBTQ people are aware of the risks of traveling to Republican controlled states like Florida.
Seems like the Republican party is playing from the Nazi play book on homosexuality. First trans, then gays, then everyone? From Wikipedia: "The Nazi regime considered the elimination of all manifestations of homosexuality in Germany one of its goals ... In 1928 the Nazi Party responded negatively to a questionnaire about their view of Paragraph 175 [German law that criminalized sexual acts between males], saying: "Anyone who even thinks of homosexual love is our enemy."[14] Nazi politicians regularly railed against homosexuality, saying it was a Jewish conspiracy to undermine the German people.[15]"
DeSantis just appointed the new board to oversee the Disney tax district. He also gave them the power to police Disney content, of course to crack down on "wokeness". How will that sit with Disney executives? How about Disney's content creators? At what point does Bob Iger either have to fight back, or quit? At what point does Disney decide that it's not worth the harassment to continue to operate in Florida? On the one hand, I would hope that their plan to move people from California to Orlando is on hold. On the other hand, I guess that the only thing that could make a real difference would be for the park to start losing money because people are staying away. That may happen because the costs are so high, but I doubt that the people who visit Disneyworld will boycott because they hate DeSantis.
Hypocrites projecting again. They’re the ones doing the indoctrination. Read Christopher Rufo’s most recent comments on the changes at New College of Florida. The graduates will all have degrees in Groupthink, something they whine about happening on college campuses already (whatever excesses occur there pale in comparison to what they are doing in Florida). Their reaction - create a narrative and scenario that Orwell and Kafka could have co-authored.
(Sarc:) By all means, please keep kids ignorant of sex until after puberty. They should be allowed to become sexually active free of information about what is happening.
Judd’s reporting has revealed how corporate political spending hypocrisy has become embedded in their business practices. Sadly, they think the public have short memories or don’t care.
Sooner or later Florida will realize that it would be more efficient to round undesirables up and put them into re-education camps where they can be taught the right way. China and North Korea have a lot of experience with this approach and would probably be happy to advise on how to proceed.
Thank you for continuing to cover the important story out of FL, as it's success there will spread.
May I ask that you also profile some of those FL groups fighting back? Only Floridians will get FL laws (or politicians) changed. Let's give some visibility to them.
"Free states don’t ban books or people.” Equality Florida Public Policy Director - Jon Harris Maurer
Words to live by.
When Ron DeSantis says “freedom”, he means “My way or the highway.”
I would like the Democrats to pay more attention to Florida & fight back. There are a lot of voters in Florida that don’t support his agenda, but there are more registered Republicans (36%) than Democrats (34%). We need to reach out to those voters who have no party affiliation (28%) & show them that the Democratic agenda helps everyone.
Disney, as a major corporate donor nationwide, could have a profound impact on all these anti-LGBTQ moves nationwide. A simple statement that Disney would no longer contribute to ANY Republican anywhere until ALL Republicans stopped their oppressive measures would help immensely. Imagine the peer pressure those Republicans used to collecting Disney dollars would put on their colleagues. If a company like Disney did it there would soon be pressure on other large corporate donors to do the same.
Likewise, Disney should look at what other contributions/economic impact it makes in FL. No more community events. No more charitable contributions. No more buying from local vendors. “Sorry Floridians, especially Orlando area citizens. But we aren’t feeling loved or respected or valued by the politicians you put in power. We are also concerned about our bottom line as a result. Therefore we’ll be ending any expenditures here in FL.” Most tourists who are from outside FL won’t care and perhaps those in FL will bring pressure to bear on the politicians behind all these mean-spirited measures.
Disney is the 800 pound gorilla here. They should start acting like it.
To repeat a point I keep making, this is what Republicans under GOVERNOR DeSantis are doing. Can you imagine what would happen in Washington D.C. if he becomes President DeSantis??????
Don't say Florida. Don't say Disney. Keep your money in your pocket with any of the mentioned supporters.
I often feel a sense of disbelief that this could be happening in this country. Don’t get me wrong- I very clearly know that it is happening. It is hard to watch the “free state of Florida” turn into an autocracy right before my very eyes.
Are the people of Florida simply nodding their heads in assent and happily going along with all of this? I often wondered how/why the people of Germany went along with the nazi takeover. Perhaps in Florida we are watching how that type of takeover plays out. Little by little in a relentless fashion.
Florida’s education system is vastly underperforming. A close look at ‘the Nation’s Report Card’ shows how Florida fails its students as they move up through the grades. A few years ago, just before COVID hit, a Stanford University study of state-level standardized tests showed that Florida’s “learning rate” was the worst in the country — by a wide margin. Florida students learned 12 percent less EACH YEAR from third to eighth grade than the national average from 2009 to 2018. Florida’s students perform worse as they move up through the grades. There is consistent, massive systemic regression with age.
So, not only is it now dangerous for pregnant women to travel to or through a Republican controlled state in case they suffer a pregnancy complication, it will now be hazardous for LGBTQ folk to travel to or through states like Florida in case they inadvertently break one of these egregious and blatantly discriminatory laws. It is known that random violence against LGBTQ folk increases in places where these types of laws are in place. And will a gay couple from Europe who have booked a holiday at Disneyworld arrive at their hotel only to be kicked out when the hotel staff realizes they are gay? Or will they be arrested for holding hands or snogging where children are present? Governments and travel companies worldwide should start preparing travel advisories so that pregnant and LGBTQ people are aware of the risks of traveling to Republican controlled states like Florida.
Seems like the Republican party is playing from the Nazi play book on homosexuality. First trans, then gays, then everyone? From Wikipedia: "The Nazi regime considered the elimination of all manifestations of homosexuality in Germany one of its goals ... In 1928 the Nazi Party responded negatively to a questionnaire about their view of Paragraph 175 [German law that criminalized sexual acts between males], saying: "Anyone who even thinks of homosexual love is our enemy."[14] Nazi politicians regularly railed against homosexuality, saying it was a Jewish conspiracy to undermine the German people.[15]"
DeSantis just appointed the new board to oversee the Disney tax district. He also gave them the power to police Disney content, of course to crack down on "wokeness". How will that sit with Disney executives? How about Disney's content creators? At what point does Bob Iger either have to fight back, or quit? At what point does Disney decide that it's not worth the harassment to continue to operate in Florida? On the one hand, I would hope that their plan to move people from California to Orlando is on hold. On the other hand, I guess that the only thing that could make a real difference would be for the park to start losing money because people are staying away. That may happen because the costs are so high, but I doubt that the people who visit Disneyworld will boycott because they hate DeSantis.
Hypocrites projecting again. They’re the ones doing the indoctrination. Read Christopher Rufo’s most recent comments on the changes at New College of Florida. The graduates will all have degrees in Groupthink, something they whine about happening on college campuses already (whatever excesses occur there pale in comparison to what they are doing in Florida). Their reaction - create a narrative and scenario that Orwell and Kafka could have co-authored.
Thank you for keeping up the pressure and calling out the cynical politicians.
(Sarc:) By all means, please keep kids ignorant of sex until after puberty. They should be allowed to become sexually active free of information about what is happening.
Judd’s reporting has revealed how corporate political spending hypocrisy has become embedded in their business practices. Sadly, they think the public have short memories or don’t care.
Sooner or later Florida will realize that it would be more efficient to round undesirables up and put them into re-education camps where they can be taught the right way. China and North Korea have a lot of experience with this approach and would probably be happy to advise on how to proceed.
Thank you for continuing to cover the important story out of FL, as it's success there will spread.
May I ask that you also profile some of those FL groups fighting back? Only Floridians will get FL laws (or politicians) changed. Let's give some visibility to them.