Pride at the Capitol 2025. (Photo by Luis Salazar)
TALLAHASSEE | Equality Florida marked the end of Florida’s legislative session by celebrating the defeat of every anti-LGBTQ+ bill that was introduced by the state’s Republican supermajority this year.
The state’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization worked throughout what it calls the “60 most dangerous days in Florida” to do so. Their advocacy included Pride at the Capitol 2025 in March and more.
“This win didn’t happen overnight. Going into the 2025 legislative session, we knew the odds were against us,” the organization shared with supporters this month. “We were facing the largest Republican supermajority in Florida’s history, and many of the 21 of 22 anti-LGBTQ bills we defeated last year were expected to return — this time with even more momentum fueled by a hostile federal climate. But they didn’t.”
Only a fraction of explicitly anti-LGBTQ+ bills were filed in 2025, they noted. In recent years, Republicans have used their power to enact the largest slate of anti-LGBTQ+ laws in Florida’s history, all championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Equality Florida specifically celebrated four “expressly anti-LGBTQ bills” that were stopped this year, known colloquially as the “Pride Flag Ban,” “Don’t Say Gay or Trans At Work,” “Anti-Diversity in Local Government” and “Removing Diversity and Equity from State Agencies” bills.
Additional “high priority bills” that were stopped or neutralized included the “Anti-Diversity in State Contraction,” Defunding Advocacy in Schools,” “Birth Control Ban for Minors,” “Expanding Book Banning,” “Civil Liability for Fetuses” and “Voter Suppression” bills. Florida’s “Attacks on Citizen-Led Amendments” bill, however, was passed.
DeSantis signed it into law May 2. The Associated Press reported that it creates “new hurdles for citizen-driven initiatives, changes critics say would make it prohibitively expensive and effectively impossible for grassroots campaigners to get them onto the ballot.”
Equality Florida noted that as a part of its efforts, over 400 citizens participated in the kick-off for Pride at the Capitol. The group also spearheaded over 325 meetings with lawmakers, joined over 300 advocates for the second annual Let Us Live March and testified in 23 committee hearings. Over 16,000 people sent hundreds of thousands of emails to elected officials through the organization as well.
“Because of you, hate didn’t win,” Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith shared in an email to supporters May 8. “Extremism didn’t go unchallenged. And even with the largest Republican supermajority in Florida’s history, we showed that when our community stands united, we can outlast and outfight any attack.
“Florida is no longer just ground zero for anti-LGBTQ attacks,” she also noted. “It’s a blueprint for resistance. With your help, we’re going to keep it that way.”
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For more information about Equality Florida’s work, visit EQFL.org.
