Arts & Culture

VH1, ‘Drag Race’ alum raise funds for Florida Rights Restoration Coalition

By Ryan Williams-Jent
ABOVE: Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, Alexis Mateo, Latrice Royale. Photos via each performer’s respective Facebook page.

VH1 and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” entertainers are raising funds for the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC), the organization working to restore the right to vote for Floridians who have been convicted of a felony.

VH1 announced a joint $250,000 donation to the FRRC with fellow ViacomCBS networks Comedy Central and MTV Sept. 17 as a part of their We Got the Vote project. Fundraising efforts continue to “pay the fees and fines that are standing in the way of returning citizens voting in November.”

The FRRC is dedicated to ending discrimination against people with convictions. The grassroots organization sponsored Florida’s Amendment 4 in 2018, also known as the Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative.

Amendment 4 was designed to automatically restore the right to vote for citizens with prior felony convictions with some exceptions. More than five million Floridians approved the amendment with nearly 65% of the vote. It was supported by LGBTQ organizations including Equality Florida, which called it “the first step in helping LGBTQ people with former convictions.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis opposed its implementation, leading the Republican-controlled state legislature to pass a law requiring affected Floridians to complete “all terms” of their sentences prior to voting. This included full payment of any fines, fees or costs resulting from the conviction.

Voting rights advocates challenged the law in court, likening it to a poll tax and voter suppression.  On Sept. 11, a federal appeals court ruled that the fines must be paid.

“Thousands of formerly incarcerated people in Florida will not be allowed to vote this November based on a recent court ruling they can’t cast their ballot until they’ve paid off all their fines to the state,” VH1 shared Sept. 18.

“This is being challenged in court – but it won’t be fixed before the upcoming 2020 election,” they continued. The network subsequently encouraged supporters to donate to We Got The Vote..

Fan favorite “Drag Race” entertainers Alexis Mateo, Vanessa “Vanjie” Mateo and Latrice Royale, all previously or currently based in Florida, echoed the network Sept. 25. Watch:

Royale, also known as Timothy Wilcots, has long discussed his own previous conviction in Florida. Following Amendment 4’s passage in 2018, he told Watermark that “it means everything just to feel like a human. To feel like my debt is paid. Now I can participate!”

While announcing its initiative, VH1 also noted that fines can range from $200 to $1,000. ViacomCBS Vice President of Social Impact Erika Soto Lamb shared with South Florida’s WLRN that “we have estimated that at least 1,250 people will be able to vote this year because of the contribution that we’re making.”

For more information about the FRRC, We Got the Vote or to donate, visit FloridaRRC.com and WeGotTheVote.org/FinesandFees/VH1.

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