Florida Capitol Building. (Photo by Samantha Ponzillo)
The 2024 Florida Legislative session came to a close March 8, seeing the shutdown of nearly 20 anti-LGBTQ+ bills.
“Despite years of relentless attacks and dehumanizing rhetoric, LGBTQ+ people and our allies have never given up the fight for Florida,” says Human Rights Campaign Vice President Geoff Wetrosky, adding “The fight to free Florida from the grip of Governor DeSantis’ devastating and extreme agenda of government censorship and intrusion into people’s lives is far from over … but the tide is turning.”
According to a press release from the HRC, during the session only one of the many anti-LGBTQ+ legislations were passed to be signed by DeSantis.
Of the proposals defeated during this session, some include bans for Pride flags in government buildings, expansions of “Don’t Say LGBTQ+” restrictions into workplaces and restrictions on gender-identity changes on driver’s licenses and other state-issued documents, according to the release.
One such bill, House Bill 1639, dubbed by LGBTQ+ activists the “Trans Erasure Bill,” was widely protested and led to hundreds of transgender and allied Floridians protesting at the “Let us Live rally” outside the Florida Capitol.
HRC, Equality Florida, Florida Rising and Floridians Protecting Freedom put together dozens of trips to the Capitol to rally against these legislations. Even making over 200 phone calls opposing the anti-LGBTQ+ policies to lawmakers.
Republican Senate President Kathleen Passidomo continued to emphasize her focus on maintaining the Senate’s process throughout this legislative session, despite GOP pressure to push through legislations.
“Our bill process is not the Republican Party of Florida. We are the Legislature. We make laws. We review laws… I’m not going to, because the Republican Party of Florida has a platform, take [a bill] out of a committee or violate our rules,” said Passidomo in a February interview with POLITICO.
While many proposals did not make it through the Senate, HB 1291, otherwise known as the “Stop WOKE Teacher Training Bill,” was passed through the legislature and now waits for approval from Governor DeSantis.
If signed, the bill would prohibit the State Board of Education from addressing systemic racism, misogyny, oppression and privilege in teacher’s training. It would also ban any instruction that “teaches identity politics,” according to the release.
State Rep. Anna V. Eskamani says that despite the challenges of this legislative session, the fighting paid off and will keep paying off if Floridians continue.
“This was a tough legislative session. … No real reforms were made to address the property insurance crisis or housing affordability challenges. Workers’ rights and wages were further pre-empted too,” said Eskamani in a statement released to the media. “However, we did stop some of the worst bills from passing – including another attack on the LGBTQ+ community, an attempt at fetal personhood and efforts to loosen Florida’s already lax gun laws. … This was a session where advocacy worked, and I encourage everyday Central Floridians to continue the fight.”
