Former politician Andrew Gillum congratulated Ron DeSantis on his election as Florida’s 46th governor on Nov. 17, 2018. The Democrat conceded to his Republican opponent after a machine recount of more than 8 million ballots, triggered by the election’s proximity.
63% of Floridians made their voices heard in the election that year, with DeSantis securing 49.6% of the vote to best Gillum’s 49.2%. It was a difference of just over 32,000 people.
“This was a hard-fought campaign,” DeSantis said at the time. “Now it’s time to bring Florida together.”
LGBTQ organizations were hopeful but remained skeptical that he’d do so. A former congressman, DeSantis carried a score of zero on the Human Rights Campaign’s national scorecard measuring his support for LGBTQ civil rights – and in the Sunshine State, Equality Florida noted he “made clear on the campaign trail that he is no friend to the LGBTQ community.”
“It’s clear that his strategy has been to stand as close to Donald Trump and his anti-LGBTQ policies as possible,” Equality Florida Senior Political Director Joe Saunders told Watermark in 2018. “We expect that he’ll carry that legacy through if he was to be elected.”
Activists say he did, bolstered by the Republican-controlled State Legislature. DeSantis signed Florida’s first explicitly anti-LGBTQ bill in decades into law on the first day of Pride Month 2021, the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which targets transgender youth who play sports.
Parental Rights in Education followed, more widely known as Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” law. The DeSantis-backed measure went into effect in July, limiting classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity through third grade and beyond.
In the months since, school boards in Florida have removed LGBTQ-inclusive books from their libraries, content from their classrooms and rejected honoring LGBTQ History Month. Legal challenges to the law have been dismissed, though others are expected.
The DeSantis administration has also targeted transgender health care and on Oct. 19, adopted anti-LGBTQ rules regarding the designation of school restrooms and locker rooms as well as LGBTQ inclusion in the classroom. Florida’s Department of Education noted the “groundbreaking changes stem from legislation signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis.”
While President Joe Biden and his administration have taken significant steps to protect LGBTQ Americans through executive and other actions, on the federal level equality-focused legislation has stalled without Republican support.
The Democratic-controlled U.S. House has passed legislation including the Equality Act – which would prohibit LGBTQ discrimination in employment, housing and more – as well as the Respect for Marriage Act, which would protect marriage equality should it be overturned by the Supreme Court. Calls to do so followed the conservative body’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, which for decades protected American access to legal and safe abortions.
The U.S. Senate, still split 50-50 among the major parties and requiring support from 10 Republicans to end a legislative filibuster, hasn’t advanced either LGBTQ-focused bill. LGBTQ groups nationwide have called on voters to elect more Democrats to Congress to send them both to the president’s desk.
They’ve also stressed that LGBTQ and ally Floridians can make a difference on or before Nov. 8, on both the state and federal levels. Early voting is currently underway and polls will be open on Election Day from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
“The clock is ticking, and we’ve seen clearly that Florida Republicans are trying to turn that clock backwards,” Equality Florida’s Saunders shared Oct. 19. “We have a chance to change everything and move toward progress and love instead of hate and discrimination.
“With the U.S. Supreme Court upending abortion rights and threatening marriage equality and Governor DeSantis assaulting civil liberties and implementing his censorship agenda, this election will be one the most critical in our lifetime,” he continued. “Lives are hanging in the balance. The last four years under the
DeSantis administration have made one thing crystal clear: elections matter, and they really matter for our community.”
That’s why Watermark contacted nearly 150 candidates in Central Florida and Tampa Bay for our 2022 election coverage. We asked them five questions, one open-ended about why readers should support their candidacy and four yes or no questions about LGBTQ civil rights. If their response was unclear or wasn’t provided, an asterisks is included in lieu of a Y or N.
After multiple attempts to reach each race from the governor’s mansion to local school boards, we received more than 40 responses. Their answers can be found at the link below, edited for length and clarity; 33 from Democrats, three from Libertarians, three from races without a party affiliation and two from Republicans.
Neither Republican was Gov. Ron DeSantis or U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, though their highest-profile challengers reiterated their longtime support for equality.
Gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist, who most recently represented St. Petersburg’s 13th congressional district in the U.S. House, promised to defend LGBTQ rights from the governor’s mansion. U.S. Rep. Val Demings, who represented Orlando’s 10th district, vowed to do so in the U.S. Senate.
Each representative supported the Equality Act and Respect for Marriage Act, which Demings notes is opposed by Rubio. He called the bill to protect same-sex marriage a “waste of time.”
“I firmly believe that no one should be discriminated against for who they love, their gender identity, their religion, race and color of their skin,” Demings stresses.
The Democrats share another key difference from their incumbent opponents. They’re pro-choice. “Make no mistake, if re-elected, Governor DeSantis will ban abortion completely across Florida,” Crist charges.
While the governor’s plans have been scant, he signed Florida’s 15-week abortion ban into law in April and promised “to expand pro-life protections” after the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.
“Choice is on the ballot: women had more reproductive rights and freedom 50 years ago than they do today,” Crist notes. “That’s energizing folks across the country like never before, just take a look at what happened in the elections in red Kansas and Alaska. The same energy is coming to Florida this November.
“The last few gubernatorial elections have been decided by incredibly small margins,” he continues. “We can win this. But we will only win if the people whose freedoms are on the line come out and vote.”
Candidates throughout Central Florida and Tampa Bay agree. Read their responses here, in our 2022 LGBTQ Voters’ Guide.
Election Day is Nov. 8 and early voting is underway throughout Florida. For information about your polling location and more, visit Vote.org or contact your local Supervisor of Elections at DOS.Elections.MyFlorida.com/Supervisors and 850-245-6200.
