Protests are persisting in Tallahassee throughout the legislative session unfolding this year in Florida, in which that city is the capital.
In a new display of opposition, a group identified by journalist Ana Ceballos as including advocates for LGBTQ+ rights and drag queens themselves gathered inside the Florida state Capitol building to support drag performers, who have been incessantly targeted by state Republicans on the team of Governor Ron DeSantis. That demonstration was on Tuesday, when those participating chanted inside the premises that drag “is not a crime” and accompanied their protest calls with thumping sounds from fans they carried. The large group also chanted: “Trans lives matter!”
Besides the Florida government targeting those participating in drag, who’ve been harassed by conservatives nationwide as supposedly endangering children’s safety without any well of evidence, there have also been affronts against trans people in the state. In education policy, which has been a focal point for disputes over the governor’s direction, Florida legislators recently approved measures that would essentially exclude trans people from the conversation in health education classes, which accompanies what’s now the approved expansion of the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” rules to all grades before college across Florida schools. Those restrictions, given that nickname by opponents, block classroom discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity, and while every individual technically falls into some category in each area, the direction Republicans have taken is obviously meant specifically to target LGBTQ+ individuals.
Also under development in the halls of Florida government have been sharp bans on what is known as gender-affirming care, restrictions that while fashioned as some kind of quest to protect the children who in reality aren’t generally under threat don’t actually end there. The funds allowed to support such care have also been targeted in moves threatening the availability of such healthcare across age groups. As highlighted earlier this month by the LGBTQ+ rights organization known as the Human Rights Campaign, there have also been plans for letting authorities remove custody rights from parents who support their children in receiving gender-affirming care, evidently even specifically allowing for reversals of decisions on custody made in other states.
Other fronts of the approach from the DeSantis administration and his Republican allies in state government that have garnered intense protests have included more general education restrictions or otherwise suppressive moves, like the control (through DeSantis picks for the board) sought over a liberal arts college in southern parts of the state called the New College of Florida.
Check out the protests below:
They are also chanting “trans lives matter” and singing “hey, hey, ho, ho, Ron desantis has got to go.” pic.twitter.com/BYCGYLXHin
— Ana Ceballos (@anaceballos_) April 25, 2023
