Outtakes
(May 25, 2025)
The laws passed by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis have consequences.
Are they unintended or intended?
The words in the bills are one thing—and the lawmakers argue the bills aren’t as far-reaching as advocacy groups and the media assert—but the governor loves to stoke the anti-woke crowd without getting into the details of the legislation he signs.
It’s the sound bites, the reaction of his supporters and how the public acts on the new laws that have a much larger impact on DeSantis.
Ever since the company criticized DeSantis’ “don’t say gay” legislation, the governor has targeted Disney, dismantling its special tax districting and taking over the amusement park’s monorail system inspections. DeSantis joked he might build a prison next to Disney World.
In an interview with The American Conservative, the governor bragged that the state needed an executive like him to tell the Disney executives to “pound sand.”
Last week, The Walt Disney Company scrapped plans to build a nearly $1 billion office complex and relocate 2,000 California-based cast members to Florida. The project would have been a small part of the $17 billion the company wanted to spend in Central Florida, creating 13,000 new jobs over the next decade. The future of the 10-year plan is now in doubt.
On May 17, Gov. DeSantis signed HB 1438, which focused on drag shows, claiming the bill protects children’s innocence. The bill outlawed sexually explicit adult performances in all venues, including drag shows and strip clubs.
Nobody wants sex acts performed in front of children, but that’s not what some people have chosen to focus on. Drag shows don’t have explicit sex acts, but that hasn’t stopped people from threatening Gallery Night for having an LGBTQ+ theme or calling Perfect Plain Brewing Co. and saying they would have their business license pulled for hosting a drag show.
Last week, Tampa Pride canceled its annual Pride on the River event.
“In the end, we didn’t want to take any chances,” said Carrie West, president of Tampa Pride.
The festival has had a diversity boat parade, fireworks extravaganza, drag brunches and live performances. There are also family-friendly activities, such as balloon animals and face painting.
However, organizers fear for the safety of the LGBTQ+ community in the current political climate, and they worry participating businesses will be harassed by law enforcement and state regulators.
Under DeSantis, state lawmakers have been encouraged to regulate what happens in classrooms. They have given control of the schools to parents, and teachers go to work worrying—not about how they can help their students learn, but about whether they will be arrested or lose their license if they upset a parent.
The Florida Department of Education is investigating a Hernando County School District fifth-grade teacher for showing her students Disney’s 2022 movie “Strange World.” She said a school board member turned her in because the movie has a gay character.
Teachers are prohibited from teaching about gender and sexual identity because of the Parental Rights in Education Act, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year. The movie was shown as part of an Earth science lesson.
A gay character in a book or movie may get you fired, but pushing the Lost Cause mythology is fine.
A middle-school teacher in Collier County created and showed a pro-Confederate video during the morning announcements. He asserted the Civil War should be titled the “War to Prevent Southern Independence.” His school district cleared him, but he has since filed a complaint against the school district for investigating his actions.
Also last week, the League of United Latin American Citizens, one of the oldest Hispanic civil-rights groups in the United States, issued a warning advising immigrants not to travel to Florida. LULAC President Domingo Garcia said, “Florida is a dangerous, hostile environment for law-abiding Americans and immigrants.”
Florida has become dangerous and hostile for a lot of us.