Politicians in Florida are considering banning schools, city halls and other government buildings from flying Pride flags. The bill, if signed into law, would make the annual practice by governments of flying a rainbow flag during Pride Month illegal. The legislation also covers Black Lives Matters
Politicians in Florida are considering banning schools, city halls and other government buildings from flying Pride flags.
The bill, if signed into law, would make the annual practice by governments of flying a rainbow flag during Pride Month illegal. The legislation also covers Black Lives Matters and Palestinian flags.
“For the longest time, I knew nobody like myself. I was unseen, unheard and unnoticed,” Casanova Dougherty, a 17-year-old transgender speaker from Sarasota, told lawmakers.
“Seeing symbols like flags that represent who I am and celebrate people like myself in connection with others who understand me without a doubt played a significant part in outright saving my life.”
Republican Randy Fine, currently serving in the Florida Senate, said: “The idea here is that the government should not be in the political message business.”
The bill language says that a government “may not erect or display a flag that represents a political viewpoint, including, but not limited to, a politically partisan, racial, sexual orientation and gender, or political ideology viewpoint.”
While the legislation doesn’t name any specific groups, Fine in a post on X referred derogatorily to the Black Lives Matter movement, pro-Palestinian demonstrators and trans rights activists as targets.
