After years of withering policy losses hurting LGBTQ+ Floridians, have political winds shifted in the Sunshine State?
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An Equality Florida press conference on Wednesday felt unusually celebratory following the possible death of two bills in the Florida Senate that appeared to be fresh attacks on the queer community.
“We the people are speaking out against this,” said Florida Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an out Democrat representing the Orlando area. “As a result of those 1,000-plus comment cards that were submitted in a certain Senate committee, two bad bills were pushed off of the agenda.”
He referenced bills that would have prohibited state contractors and local governments from using preferred pronouns for LGBTQ+ employees and repealed the weighing of minority diversity in awarding contracts. After a flood of critics requested to speak during public comment at a Senate Government Oversight and Accountability hearing on Tuesday, both bills were tabled and listed on the state website as “Not considered.” Of note, a representative of Republican Senate President Ben Albritton said the bills can still be taken up at a later meeting if the committee desires.
Those bills were among a relatively small number flagged as concerning to LGBTQ+ advocates in Tallahassee this year.
That may be because Florida has already repealed many rights and representation efforts in the state. Gov. Ron DeSantis already chipped away at bathroom access for transgender people, diversity programs at Florida universities, and even recognition of self-identified gender markers on state IDs.
But in the wake of DeSantis’s failed presidential campaign and a general tiring among even Republican lawmakers of waging culture wars in Tallahassee, advocates suggested the tide may just have turned.
“We see it as a hopeful sign that far fewer bills specifically targeting the LGBTQ community have been filed this year,” said Stratton Pollitzer, deputy director of Equality Florida. “Maybe, just maybe, more legislators are growing tired of the cruelty."
It’s not just legislation. Angelique Godwin, director of transgender equality for Equality Florida, said even moving around the capitol feels more welcoming for transgender people than in recent years.
"I'm sharing the bathroom with senators and Republicans and Christian people today,” she said, “and not one person has had a bad thing to say about me. Not one person has been scared of me."
Advocates and allies said that’s something progressive advocates and LGBTQ individuals should note, especially after Florida for years put anti-LGBTQ+ policies into place in a state once seen as a refuge in the South from discrimination.
Florida Rep. Anna Eskamani, a straight ally who also hails from Orlando, said she’s been frustrated by Democrats nationwide shying away from protections of trans rights and said legal victories over bad Florida policies should bolster instead of repel Democratic leaders.
“What we're experiencing right now is backlash to the progress that we have made,” she said. “Remember, that backlash is a reaction to our hope becoming a reality. Don't stop hoping, don't stop fighting, because we are here, we are proud and we are not backing down."
Several out lawmakers appeared at the press conference, including Florida Reps. Michele Rayner and Mitch Rosenwald. Their mere presence showed advances in the state from 20 years ago, and Rayner said that representation was a positive sign.
"My mother used to talk about being unshakable and being unmovable,” she said. “And when you begin to take up space, especially in places they say that you can't have space, you become unshakable and unmovable."
