As a Floridian who has studied and lived in Russia I am struck by the policy and rhetorical parallels I see between Vladimir Putin and Ron DeSantis and the creeping erosion of liberties and democracy in our state.
I see the headlines surrounding the “Don’t Say Gay” and “Stop Woke” classroom censorship bills in our state and the Russian capricious imprisonment of Black lesbian basketball superstar Brittney Griner as tied together by the same threads of division and fearmongering that erodes freedom and liberty.
I know what it is to be Black and queer in Russia and here at home. In both, I have experienced what it is like to exist in that liminal space of conditional tolerance, the stress of constant vigilance related to race and queerness, and the constant pressure of knowing that your identity is a risk factor that can justify or excuse any harsh treatment against you.
And while courageous Russians risk their freedom and safety to protest their country’s attack on Ukraine, we are only beginning to see Floridians and Americans in general slowly awakening to the danger that this growing censorship and surveillance state poses to us all.
Right now, the world is watching in horror but not shock as a tyrannical dictator launches a brutal assault on the sovereign nation of Ukraine. Putin’s lust for unchecked power has long led him to crush free speech, surveil his own people, squelch dissent, persecute the marginalized, reward his loyal cronies and rule with an iron fist nostalgic for the days of the Russian Empire. It’s an authoritarian nightmare that once felt impossible to imagine here in the United States. But a similar lust for power and disregard for the fundamental pillars of democracy have cropped up in this country, threatening to shred our institutions and send us tumbling into a government-controlled surveillance state of our own. It’s a lust for power and disregard for democracy that are fueling the DeSantis agenda. Its core tenets — muzzling teachers, chilling free speech, propagandizing curriculum, and weaponizing bigoted fears of a multi-racial democracy — are designed to intimidate the general public an
empower his goons to harass and terrorize their neighbors.
It has allowed him to smear peaceful protests against police violence while encouraging anti-vaxxers who stalk school board members at their homes. It has led him to demand harsh crackdowns on those he disagrees with while refusing to condemn in any meaningful way right-wing violence. DeSantis’ aspirations for the White House are well known and it is why he has tripped over himself to leap into foreign affairs when it benefits him politically. Yet he has dragged his feet in joining nearly universal American support for Ukraine, reserving his harshest words, not for Putin but for President Biden. Perhaps DeSantis fears losing his frequent guest status on Tucker Carlson as the Fox commentator uses his platform to cheer Russian aggression on. Or perhaps it is difficult for DeSantis to criticize Putin when stealing heavily from his playbook.
Russia’s law, signed by Putin in 2013, prohibits LGBTQ+ people from being represented in any materials given to minors. The law asserts that merely acknowledging the existence of LGBTQ+ people is a danger to youth and must be outlawed. Florida’s Don’t Say Gay bill is the same insidious bigotry. It is intended to disappear LGBTQ+ people from classroom discussion, stigmatize LGBTQ+ parents, put educators under the heavy thumb of the government, and isolate LGBTQ+ young people.
In Russia we see the inevitable result of these propaganda laws. Putin has criminalized LGBTQ+ people and encouraged educators, health providers and families to distance themselves from LGBTQ+ issues, censoring their speech, denying services and leaving the community stigmatized and isolated, particularly children who have the least resources to defend themselves. This law was passed in part to further the notion of Russia as a champion of traditional values, the last pillar of white conservate christianity in the face of a rapidly changing world. Putin has leveraged racial animus just as expertly to consolidate power, curb civil liberties and create an atmosphere of unpredictability and fear.
The case of Brittany Griner stands as a clear example of this intersection. When I first heard that Griner was detained in Russia, my heart dropped. Her case had all the hallmarks of concern: a Black, queer American woman in Russia, under suspicion of a drug-related crime. The limited attention to her plight is no doubt a reflection of the silencing effect of Russia’s law, which further complicates Griner’s situation and gives pause to those who may come to her aid, fearful of what explicit association with her can mean for their own lives. It is this tension, a perpetual cloud of suspicion around LGBTQ+ individuals and the social and legal implications for allies that dissuades their engagement. That is the goal of Putin’s law. And the ultimate goal of DeSantis. If the world is quiet when an WNBA and Olympic superstar is detained, less they run afoul of politics, what hope do Florida’s children have?
And now in the midst of widespread criticism for this harsh and far-reaching legislation from child welfare advocates, parents, and members of his own party, DeSantis has unleashed his proxies to attack anyone opposed to the legislation as a “pedophile”, an homage to one of the oldest and most dangerous anti-LGBTQ+ tropes. It is a slippery slope DeSantis is hoping to use to push progress backward.
The governor has a favorite line on the never-ending campaign trail: Florida is the freest state in the nation. But the question is, free for who? Free states do not enact legislation to censor the teaching of history and ban books from library shelves. They do not propose installing cameras and microphones in classrooms to monitor a teacher’s every move. Free states do not work to put the prying eyes of the government in doctor’s offices to interfere with an individual’s healthcare and reproductive decisions. Free states do not use the immense power of the state government to defund local elected officials for daring to address the needs of their constituents. Authoritarian states do those things, all in service of the appetite for power from their leaders.
This DeSantis agenda of government-sponsored censorship and surveillance is only being fine-tuned in Florida before it is fully exported to the nation at-large and foisted upon the American people. Simply put: the creep of Putin-esque authoritarianism in America is accelerating and we are faced with a critical opportunity to put a stop to it.
Tiffany Richards lived in Russia and in various places in Eastern Europe and serving as a Fulbright Scholar to the Republic of Moldova. They hold an undergraduate degree in Russian and Anthropology from the University of Florida and a Masters in Russian, Central and East European Studies from the University of Glasgow. Richards has worked on anti-bullying programs and LGBTQ+ student support in Florida. They are an educator and activist who currently supports others in building equitable and inclusive practices and policies in their organization.
