It’s another exceptionally unproductive session of the Florida Legislature.
There’s no budget — not even a verbal consensus on a bottom line — as the session enters its last week. In this election year, they can’t agree on the ballot language to ask voters to cut property taxes. On his farewell tour, Gov. Ron DeSantis won’t get his highly touted AI “Bill of Rights.”
But lawmakers have all the time in the world to address the evils of diversity, equity and inclusion — this time at City Hall — after earlier banning DEI policies on campuses.
Mike Stocker/Sun Sentinel
Steve Bousquet is a Sun Sentinel columnist who began reporting in Broward County in 1981.
In the latest culture war theatrics, mayors and commissioners could be removed from office if they “promote, directly or indirectly,” any “preferential treatment” based on “race, color, sex, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation.” Anyone can sue claiming violations — even the eyeroll-inducing gadfly ranting at meetings.
The Senate bill (SB 1134) passed Wednesday, 25-11. It awaits a House vote and then DeSantis’ signature. Every Democratic senator present voted no. One Republican, Alexis Calatayud of Miami, opposed it.
The overly broad and vaguely worded bill raises real fears of costly out-of-control litigation and the high likelihood that popular, diversity-promoting events may disappear, such as the Jewish film festival in Boca Raton, Stonewall Pride Parade in Wilton Manors or Pompano’s Caribbean Fest.
Official city proclamations, such as declaring June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month in Fort Lauderdale, are in jeopardy.
The bill has been rewritten repeatedly to add more and more carve-outs and exclusions for events already protected elsewhere by law, such as Black History Month or single-sex programs for the homeless.
A leading opponent, Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, fought for a carve-out to protect the Pulse shooting memorial from elimination. Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton, tried to narrow the bill’s scope by limiting an official’s removal to willfully seeking personal financial gain. Republicans defeated it.
But what about hiring preferences for minority- and women-owned contractors? Or studies of racial disparities in maternal and child health? They’re in danger, too.
Opponents are horrified by how tourists will react to this extreme repression and the damage to tourist-dependent small businesses. On its Facebook page, the Key West Business Guild said city-approved cultural events “sustain the vibrant and inclusive spirit that makes Key West so special.”
The force behind the bill, Sen. Clay Yarborough, R-Jacksonville, rails against “garbage” that “divides people” being promoted by cities and counties with tax money. He said he was motivated by a Jacksonville group’s use of public money to circulate “pornographic” playing cards to children describing various body parts.
Yarborough also cites Broward’s use of “The Genderbread Person” character to explain concepts of gender diversity and sexual orientation to young people, a point made by DeSantis as proof of Florida’s “woke” culture.
Broward County
A line in Broward’s cultural grants manual drew the ire of anti-diversity zealots in the Florida Senate.
The senator also cited Broward’s cultural grants manual, which requires a “demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion.”
Among Yarborough’s allies is Sen. Jason Pizzo, who represents one of the state’s most diverse areas in Fort Lauderdale and neighboring Wilton Manors, but who now aligns himself with ultra-conservative Republicans.
“I’m voting for the bill because money should not be spent on creating programs for the consulting class to amplify division,” Pizzo told senators.
Pizzo, a former Democrat who left the party last year, now has no party affiliation, representing east Broward. (By comparison, Rep. Chip LaMarca of Lighthouse Point, representing some of the same area, is the only Republican who voted against the bill in the House Commerce Committee).
As senators debated, local officials went online to blister the Legislature’s misguided priorities. They were led by Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis, who said he tried to lobby Pizzo to oppose it, but that the senator didn’t respond.
“We are completely disappointed in his vote,” Trantalis said of Pizzo. “He has gone rogue on this issue … I honestly just don’t think he represents his district very well.”
In a memo to legislators, Fort Lauderdale cited multiple concerns, such as whether it would be legal to promote its popular annual Sistrunk Festival held last week or whether its upcoming St. Patrick’s Day parade might be the last one promoted by the city.
As the repression in Florida grows darker, our state becomes increasingly unrecognizable from what it was.
Steve Bousquet is Opinion Editor of the South Florida Sun Sentinel and a columnist in Tallahassee and Fort Lauderdale. Contact him at sbousquet@sunsentinel.com or (850) 567-2240.