ABOVE: Wes Davis (L) speaks to a crowd as Florida Sen. Kelli Stargel (R) looks on smiling. (Photo courtesy Wes Davis)
For three years, you and I worked closely together to advance Republican politics across Polk County. We fought to elect Colleen Burton to the Florida House of Representatives, we knocked on doors, rallied volunteers and attended almost every political hob-nob we could find. Following your lead, my call to public service was undeniable. But we were literally shoulder-to-shoulder when I hit one of the lowest of lows in my career.
As you know, in 2016 I came out while working as a Regional Field Director for the Republican Party of Florida. Despite tremendous fear of losing the future that I poured my blood, sweat and tears into, I knew that I had to show up as my true authentic self no matter the cost.
That low hit when you were sitting in the passenger seat of my 2005 Chevy Tahoe. The Polk County Republican Party Chairman, Jim Guth, called me. I put him on speaker. You sat next to me as he lashed out in a fury of rage. He called me a faggot. A fairy. A hail of expletives. We were in shock. Afterward, you agreed that it was uncalled for and out of line. I thought that having a state senator on my side, supporting me, would be my saving grace.
Instead, looking back at this moment, all I got was silence and inaction.
I didn’t know it then, but these comments were the beginning of the end of my career in Republican politics. After months of dehumanizing and discriminatory comments from party officials, co-workers and volunteers I retreated into isolation. I struggled to figure out what was wrong with me and where I belonged, because it was not in the nightmare I was living. And your silence was deafening.
Today I work for the the largest civil rights organization in Florida fighting for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer liberation.
And your silence has turned into a vocal attack. An irrefutable nightmare blasted from the bullhorn of your bully pulpit and directed at transgender kids in every corner of our state. As one of the high ranking leaders in our state, you have led the charge to further isolate the kids who just want to be left alone rather than be the target of a nationally orchestrated right wing attack.
Senator, your ban on transgender kids participating in sports seeks to solve a problem that does not exist in Florida, a fact you have agreed with. But the reason I am writing to you is to remind you that your words have meaning.
Transgender kids all across the country are listening to what you say. The act of writing a bill like the Transgender Youth Sports Ban, holding hearings and debates, and casting votes sends a direct message to them. It says: You do not belong in our community, your existence is dangerous to the children around you and we are okay if you feel lonely and isolated. The transgender community is tired of fighting for their existence. And allies, like me, are tired of pleading for you to treat them as full and equal members of our community.
The abuse needs to stop. Florida leads the nation in murders of Black transgender women. In the last two years, seven Black transgender women were murdered in Florida. LGBTQ youth are more than two times as likely to experience homelessness than their non-LGBTQ peers.
As someone who has experienced the far right firsthand, I know this is a coordinated, cultural attack on our transgender kids and my LGBTQ community. It has been 1,769 days since I came out. I have experienced, seen and fought this sort of dehumanization and deception. This overt hostility is even more painful than your silence in my Chevy Tahoe while Chairman Guth made me feel as though my existence was a cancer in our community.
In one of our first meetings eight years ago, you encouraged me and my classmates at Florida Southern College to create the world we’d want our children to live in. Today, I challenge you to create a world where every child feels seen, supported, included and loved.
Wes Davis is the Equality Florida Field Director based in Orlando. He leads programs to educate, mobilize and empower LGBTQ Floridians and our allies.
