Don’t say gay. Regulation of books and discussion in class. Teachers, parents and school librarians are all venturing into new and uncertain territory. LGBTQ+ rights under attack. A very public feud between the state government and Disney. And at the center of it all is a governor who has emerged as a rival to former President Trump and who probably has his eyes on the White House.

This is Florida at this point in history, mid-2023.

for

a lot of

those who live in Florida have brought some changes in recent months that are much related to Gov. Ron DeSantis. Here, Florida-based Associated Press journalist Brendan Farrington, who has covered the state’s politics since 1997, reflects on the changes for different groups and places them in the context of the cultural and political landscape.

How Life Changes For… The Average Floridian:

For the average Floridian, cost of living concerns have become an issue and really aren’t being addressed as vocally as most people would have hoped.

Rents are skyrocketing. Property insurance, whether you live near the coast or not, is becoming less and less available and less affordable.

Inflation has clearly played a role, but much of the discussion has shifted away from the issues affecting ordinary Floridians towards more of an us versus them over cultural issues or abortion and discussions of race.

DeSantis wants to “make America Florida.” That could mean that there are many more uninsured people

Weapons are another thing. Under a new law, anyone who can legally own a gun can also carry it concealed without a license. Now you need a permit to carry a gun and undergo training and background checks to carry a concealed gun. This will no longer have to happen from 1 July.

There also appears to be an increase in hate-related incidents. Someone projected

anti-semitic anti-semitic

messages at the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium last season and there were self-declared Nazis waving flags and signs at events.

And again, abortion. In April 2022, Florida passed a law banning abortion after 15 weeks, two months before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Roe v. Wade overturned, and passed a tougher law enforcing that ban after six weeks this year. His clear reproductive rights are taking a hit in Florida.

Civil rights groups warn tourists about Florida after ‘hostile’ laws

With the Don’t Say Gay law, opponents call it that because it prohibits discussion of sexuality in schools with students. of participation.

But because of vague language, some people wonder if they can even mention LGBTQ+ issues at all. A student might ask, Why does so-and-so have two mommies? Some teachers feel they can’t even answer the question without consequence.

The bill has also left some teachers feeling like they can’t even represent who they are in the classroom. If they are gay, transgender, or bisexual, they must conclude that they cannot have or say anything that indicates that. This includes hiding items such as photos of partners and gay pride decals.

Some people say it’s better to say nothing than to risk violating the mandates of the Department of Education.

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It empowers parents who agree with DeSantis’ philosophy and ideology on education. But parents who welcome this discussion feel like, what about us? What happened to our right to have our children taught about these things? Parents with LGBTQ+ children feel that they are denied access to health care

care, and then their children are at risk of depression or suicide.

It’s almost symbolic of much of what DeSantis has put forward. It divides people with different ideologies and allows people who agree with him to speak out more. It empowers parents who, for religious or moral or any other reason, do not want their children to hear about sexuality, especially gender reassignment or about other gay students.

And those parents who welcome this policy with open arms become more involved with school boards. More than any other governor, DeSantis has promoted school board races, encouraged people to run, helped candidates who share his ideology, and encouraged parents to complain to school boards. It puts a lot more stress on the schools. And it divides people over ideologies. A Sarasota school board member recently walked out of a meeting after the Republican chairman allowed a parent to personally attack him for being gay.

School Librarians:

Textbooks must be approved by school librarians. And that raises questions about schools that don’t currently have a media specialist, someone trained to work with staff on approving library and classroom materials. It makes researching books easier, which forces people to justify why the books should be in schools, despite the complaints of people who want to ban them.

There are still many questions about the vague language, for example whether a book can contain an LGBTQ+ character, even if there is no sexual content. It causes schools to be a little more careful, perhaps even more than necessary, in an effort to comply with the governor’s wishes.

LGBTQ+ residents:

It caused some backtracking in LGBTQ+ rights. I think people feel more threatened that they can be the subject of hate attacks and involving the government in these issues can make homophobic people feel like they can act more often.

I have spoken to many LGBTQ+ legislators and activists who feel that they are not being treated as whole people and that the government is trying to suppress who they really are. In some cases, it reminds people of the anti-gay movement in the 1970s. But now, instead of fighting for rights, they defend rights.

The thousands of Disney employees in central Florida:

I don’t know how it affects Disney employees’ day-to-day entitlements. I’m sure they’re very interested in the feud currently going on between DeSantis and their employer.

I don’t think Disney is going anywhere. North Carolina has floated the idea of ​​trying to lure them. Some people have discussed that and wondered, What if Disney moves? But it’s a huge company with such a huge footprint in central Florida that it’s highly unlikely to get to the point where Disney says, “No, we don’t want to be in Florida.”

Democrats and Republicans:

Democrats once dominated Florida politics.

For decades, their party was in control. They controlled the legislature and the governor’s office for most years. Even when elected to the gubernatorial office, Republicans had a Democratic legislature to deal with until Jeb Bush seemed to revive the Republican State Party despite losing his first election in 1994. had a legislative majority and built on it year after year after year.

Republicans now have a supermajority in parliament. They now have all the offices statewide and have more registered voters than Democrats. And the party’s strength plays to its strengths and voter engagement and coverage.

Democrats seem frustrated in Tallahassee for not having the power to block legislation without the numbers to prevent bills from passing. They are now mostly relegated to messaging and trying to work with colleagues across the aisle to change the law and make what they call bad bills a little better.

But in general, they know that there is nothing they can do. Republicans are having a field day and basically doing whatever they want. DeSantis has wielded more control over the legislature than any governor I’ve seen.

DeSantis himself:

DeSantis administration won by a larger margin than any Republican in the state of Florida. And he has used that as a mandate that the state supports him and his policies and ideology.

So it made him more powerful in Florida. It has given him more courage. And the agenda he adopted fits very well with a GOP presidential primary.

Many of the issues he’s taken on he’s doing to play in places like Iowa and South Carolina as well as Florida. He used the word

“woke up”

more often in the

I

last year than probably the previous four years. That was a big change for him.

He has done his book tour and travelled. His name recognition has skyrocketed nationally outside of Florida. But doing so has increasingly come under fire from fellow Republicans, especially Trump.

Other candidates and potential hopefuls, such as Mike Pence and Nikki Haley, have criticized him for attacking Disney, which they say attacks corporations and is not the Republican thing to do. In turn, DeSantis had to defend himself more. While not yet a candidate, he is expected to be very soon, but he is essentially campaigning as he travels to Iowa, New Hampshire and other key primary states.