Latest news with #EqualityFlorida
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Advocates claim victory as several anti-LGBTQ bills fail this legislative session
LGBTQ advocates are claiming victory after this year's legislative session. 'We just achieved the impossible again: Every anti-LGBTQ bill filed this year has been defeated!' wrote Equality Florida in a press release. Bills that would have banned pride flags and regulated the use of pronouns in the workplace died in committee or never even had a hearing, the LGBTQ advocacy group said. Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman attributed the failure of this year's anti-LGBTQ bills to the hundred of LGBTQ Floridians and their allies who showed up to the Capitol and met with lawmakers face to face. 'Florida lawmakers are increasingly turning away from the relentless anti-LGBTQ culture war attacks of recent years,' Berman told the USA TODAY Network – Florida. 'Those laws have done real harm to the LGBTQ community, especially transgender Floridians. But they're not helping anyone. And that's what Floridians want lawmakers to focus on – making their lives better.' In recent years, the Republican majority has pushed laws that have targeted LGBTQ Floridians. It kicked off in 2022, when the Florida Legislature passed HB 1557, which is known as the 'Don't Say Gay' bill by critics. The law, called the 'Parental Rights in Education Act,' prohibits the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. Since then, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican leaders have expanded that law and passed more legislation, including laws that require people use the bathroom of their biological sex at birth and that driver's licenses display the biological sex at birth versus someone's gender identity. DeSantis has touted these laws as examples of how Florida is the state 'where woke goes to die.' But in 2025, the four bills advocates flagged as 'expressly anti-LGBTQ,' died at the previously scheduled end of the regular legislative session. (Lawmakers will return to Tallahassee May 12 but only to finish the state budget and related bills, including a tax cut package.) A bill that would have banned Pride flags flying on government buildings (SB 100) failed after the Senate bill's sponsor, Randy Fine, R-Melbourne, resigned to run for Congress, and no other senator picked up the measure. Another bill advocates dubbed the 'Don't Say Gay or Trans at Work' (SB 440) never moved past the committee phase in the Senate and was never heard in the House. If passed, it would have prohibited workplaces from requiring employees to use preferred pronouns. 'Official Actions of Local Governments' (SB 420) would have banned local municipalities from spending money or promoting diversity, equity and inclusion policies. While it got through a committee stop, lawmakers, including Senate Rules Committee chair Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, did voice concern about the language, worrying it was too broad. The bill was never heard in its second committee. And 'Official Actions of Local Governments' (SB 1710/HB 731) died in committee in both the Senate and the House. The measure would have prohibited spending on DEI initiatives and applying for federal health care grants that include DEI. 'This year the Legislature asserted more independence and spent less time on partisan issues,' said Jon Harris Maurer, Equality Florida's public policy director. 'Positively, with more emphasis on policy over partisanship, many of the culture war issues failed, including anti-LGBTQ legislation.' Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@ This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida LGBTQ advocates say every targeted bill failed this session
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Transgender student's arrest for violating Florida bathroom law is thought to be a first
A transgender college student declared 'I am here to break the law' before entering a women's restroom at the Florida State Capitol and being led out in handcuffs by police. Civil rights attorneys say the arrest of Marcy Rheintgen last month is the first they know of for violating transgender bathroom restrictions passed by numerous state legislatures across the country. Capitol police had been alerted and were waiting for Rheintgen, 20, when she entered the building in Tallahassee March 19. They told her she would receive a trespass warning once she entered the women's restroom to wash her hands and pray the rosary, but she was later placed under arrest when she refused to leave, according to an arrest affidavit. Rheintgen faces a misdemeanor trespassing charge punishable by up to 60 days in jail and is due to appear in court in May. 'I wanted people to see the absurdity of this law in practice,' Rheintgen told The Associated Press. 'If I'm a criminal, it's going to be so hard for me to live a normal life, all because I washed my hands. Like, that's so insane.' At least 14 states have adopted laws barring transgender women from entering women's bathrooms at public schools and, in some cases, other government buildings. Only two — Florida and Utah — criminalize the act. Rheintgen's arrest in Florida is the first that American Civil Liberties Union attorneys are aware of in any state with a criminal ban, senior staff attorney Jon Davidson said. Rheintgen was in town visiting her grandparents when she decided to pen a letter to each of Florida's 160 state lawmakers informing them of her plan to enter a public restroom inconsistent with her sex assigned at birth. The Illinois resident said her act of civil disobedience was fueled by anger at seeing a place she loves and visits regularly grow hostile toward trans people. 'I know that you know in your heart that this law is wrong and unjust,' she wrote in her letter to lawmakers. 'I know that you know in your heart that transgender people are human too, and that you can't arrest us away. I know that you know that I have dignity. That's why I know that you won't arrest me.' Her arrest comes as many Republican-led states that have enacted restroom restrictions grapple with how to enforce them. Laws in Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky and North Dakota do not spell out any enforcement mechanism, and even the state laws that do largely rely on private individuals to report violations. In Utah, activists flooded a tip line created to alert state officials to possible violations of its bathroom law with thousands of hoax reports in an effort to shield transgender residents and their allies from any legitimate complaints that could lead to an investigation. Supporters of the laws say they are needed to protect women and girls in private single-sex spaces. Opponents such as Nadine Smith, executive director of the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Florida, say they create dangerous situations for all by giving people license to police others' bodies in bathrooms. 'The arrest of Marcy Rheintgen is not about safety," Smith said. "It's about cruelty, humiliation and the deliberate erosion of human dignity. Transgender people have been using restrooms aligned with their gender for generations without incident. What's changed is not their presence — it's a wave of laws designed to intimidate them out of public life.' If Rheintgen is convicted, she worries she could be jailed with men, forced to cut her long hair and prevented temporarily from taking gender-affirming hormones. 'People are telling me it's a legal test, like this is the first case that's being brought," she said. 'It's how they test the law. But I didn't do this to test the law. I did it because I was upset. I can't have any expectations for what's going to happen because this has never been prosecuted before. I'm horrified and scared.' ___ Associated Press writer Kate Payne contributed reporting from Tallahassee.
The Independent
03-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Transgender student's arrest for violating Florida bathroom law is thought to be a first
A transgender college student declared 'I am here to break the law' before entering a women's restroom at the Florida State Capitol and being led out in handcuffs by police. Civil rights attorneys say the arrest of Marcy Rheintgen last month is the first they know of for violating transgender bathroom restrictions passed by numerous state legislatures across the country. Capitol police had been alerted and were waiting for Rheintgen, 20, when she entered the building in Tallahassee March 19. They told her she would receive a trespass warning once she entered the women's restroom to wash her hands and pray the rosary, but she was later placed under arrest when she refused to leave, according to an arrest affidavit. Rheintgen faces a misdemeanor trespassing charge punishable by up to 60 days in jail and is due to appear in court in May. 'I wanted people to see the absurdity of this law in practice,' Rheintgen told The Associated Press. 'If I'm a criminal, it's going to be so hard for me to live a normal life, all because I washed my hands. Like, that's so insane.' At least 14 states have adopted laws barring transgender women from entering women's bathrooms at public schools and, in some cases, other government buildings. Only two — Florida and Utah — criminalize the act. Rheintgen's arrest in Florida is the first that American Civil Liberties Union attorneys are aware of in any state with a criminal ban, senior staff attorney Jon Davidson said. Rheintgen was in town visiting her grandparents when she decided to pen a letter to each of Florida's 160 state lawmakers informing them of her plan to enter a public restroom inconsistent with her sex assigned at birth. The Illinois resident said her act of civil disobedience was fueled by anger at seeing a place she loves and visits regularly grow hostile toward trans people. 'I know that you know in your heart that this law is wrong and unjust,' she wrote in her letter to lawmakers. 'I know that you know in your heart that transgender people are human too, and that you can't arrest us away. I know that you know that I have dignity. That's why I know that you won't arrest me.' Her arrest comes as many Republican-led states that have enacted restroom restrictions grapple with how to enforce them. Laws in Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky and North Dakota do not spell out any enforcement mechanism, and even the state laws that do largely rely on private individuals to report violations. In Utah, activists flooded a tip line created to alert state officials to possible violations of its bathroom law with thousands of hoax reports in an effort to shield transgender residents and their allies from any legitimate complaints that could lead to an investigation. Supporters of the laws say they are needed to protect women and girls in private single-sex spaces. Opponents such as Nadine Smith, executive director of the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Florida, say they create dangerous situations for all by giving people license to police others' bodies in bathrooms. 'The arrest of Marcy Rheintgen is not about safety," Smith said. "It's about cruelty, humiliation and the deliberate erosion of human dignity. Transgender people have been using restrooms aligned with their gender for generations without incident. What's changed is not their presence — it's a wave of laws designed to intimidate them out of public life.' If Rheintgen is convicted, she worries she could be jailed with men, forced to cut her long hair and prevented temporarily from taking gender-affirming hormones. ' People are telling me it's a legal test, like this is the first case that's being brought," she said. 'It's how they test the law. But I didn't do this to test the law. I did it because I was upset. I can't have any expectations for what's going to happen because this has never been prosecuted before. I'm horrified and scared.' ___
Associated Press
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Transgender student's arrest for violating Florida bathroom law is thought to be a first
A transgender college student declared 'I am here to break the law' before entering a women's restroom at the Florida State Capitol and being led out in handcuffs by police. Civil rights attorneys say the arrest of Marcy Rheintgen last month is the first they know of for violating transgender bathroom restrictions passed by numerous state legislatures across the country. Capitol police had been alerted and were waiting for Rheintgen, 20, when she entered the building in Tallahassee March 19. They told her she would receive a trespass warning once she entered the women's restroom to wash her hands and pray the rosary, but she was later placed under arrest when she refused to leave, according to an arrest affidavit. Rheintgen faces a misdemeanor trespassing charge punishable by up to 60 days in jail and is due to appear in court in May. 'I wanted people to see the absurdity of this law in practice,' Rheintgen told The Associated Press. 'If I'm a criminal, it's going to be so hard for me to live a normal life, all because I washed my hands. Like, that's so insane.' At least 14 states have adopted laws barring transgender women from entering women's bathrooms at public schools and, in some cases, other government buildings. Only two — Florida and Utah — criminalize the act. Rheintgen's arrest in Florida is the first that American Civil Liberties Union attorneys are aware of in any state with a criminal ban, senior staff attorney Jon Davidson said. Rheintgen was in town visiting her grandparents when she decided to pen a letter to each of Florida's 160 state lawmakers informing them of her plan to enter a public restroom inconsistent with her sex assigned at birth. The Illinois resident said her act of civil disobedience was fueled by anger at seeing a place she loves and visits regularly grow hostile toward trans people. 'I know that you know in your heart that this law is wrong and unjust,' she wrote in her letter to lawmakers. 'I know that you know in your heart that transgender people are human too, and that you can't arrest us away. I know that you know that I have dignity. That's why I know that you won't arrest me.' Her arrest comes as many Republican-led states that have enacted restroom restrictions grapple with how to enforce them. Laws in Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky and North Dakota do not spell out any enforcement mechanism, and even the state laws that do largely rely on private individuals to report violations. In Utah, activists flooded a tip line created to alert state officials to possible violations of its bathroom law with thousands of hoax reports in an effort to shield transgender residents and their allies from any legitimate complaints that could lead to an investigation. Supporters of the laws say they are needed to protect women and girls in private single-sex spaces. Opponents such as Nadine Smith, executive director of the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Florida, say they create dangerous situations for all by giving people license to police others' bodies in bathrooms. 'The arrest of Marcy Rheintgen is not about safety,' Smith said. 'It's about cruelty, humiliation and the deliberate erosion of human dignity. Transgender people have been using restrooms aligned with their gender for generations without incident. What's changed is not their presence — it's a wave of laws designed to intimidate them out of public life.' If Rheintgen is convicted, she worries she could be jailed with men, forced to cut her long hair and prevented temporarily from taking gender-affirming hormones. 'People are telling me it's a legal test, like this is the first case that's being brought,' she said. 'It's how they test the law. But I didn't do this to test the law. I did it because I was upset. I can't have any expectations for what's going to happen because this has never been prosecuted before. I'm horrified and scared.'
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
LGBTQ advocates march to Florida Capitol for trans rights, protest anti-DEI bills
LGBTQ rights advocates from across Florida walked the streets of Tallahassee and met at the steps of the Historic Capitol Thursday to protest legislation that would further roll back their rights. Wearing blue shirts that said "Let Us Live," protesters chanted, "This is what democracy looks like," in fierce wind and rain. "We need to start running for office," said Jules Rayne, a community organizer for Equality Florida and Manatee County resident. "We need to be everywhere, in every school district, in every county commissioner's seat, in every mayor's office." After years of the Florida Legislature passing bills that target the LGBTQ community, the Republican-led branch of government still isn't letting up. There are multiple bills attempting to further prohibit state funding for diversity, equity and inclusion in K-12 schools, state agencies and higher education. Hundreds of Floridians marched from Cascades Park to the Capitol Thursday morning for the "Let Us Live March" to protest these bills and hold a rally on the front Capitol steps with trans leaders, who said they weren't letting up, either. LGBTQ advocates highlighted a small win that happened earlier this week, when two anti-DEI bills, "Gender Identity Employment Practices" (SB 440) and "Prohibited Preferences in Government Contracting" (SB 1694) were postponed in their committee on Tuesday. SB 440, sponsored by Sen. Stan McClain, R-Ocala, and called the "Freedom of Conscience in the Workplace Act," would prohibit employers from being required to use certain pronouns or requiring them to use a pronoun that does not correspond to the employee's or contractor's sex. Critics are calling it the "Don't Say Gay or Trans at Work" bill. And SB 1694, sponsored by Sen. Randy Fine, R-Melbourne Beach, would prohibit an awarding body from giving preference to a vendor on the basis of race or ethnicity. More than 1,000 members of the public signed up to comment during the Senate Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability, which Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, R-Orlando, said attributed to the bills getting delayed. Smith said it's evidence that "people power works." "All of this other stuff related to DEI is not solving any problems. It's not improving anyone's life, and it's just honestly needlessly dividing us," he said. There are still other anti-DEI bills making their way through committees, however, including one that some say would push the controversy over book bans into overdrive and another that would potentially halt funds for efforts like domestic abuse shelters for women. "Prohibitions and Limitations on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Requirements for Medical Institutions of Higher Education" (SB 1710) was passed through the same committee that temporarily postponed SB 440 and SB 1674. That measure, sponsored by Sen. Nick DiCeglie, R-St. Petersburg, prohibits state agencies from expending certain funds for a DEI office or officer. Another measure by McClain, the same sponsor as the "Don't Say Gay or Trans at Work" bill, would define the term "harmful to minors," and further limit classroom materials. "Material that is Harmful to Minors," (SB 1692), says: "The school board may not consider potential literary, artistic, political, or scientific value as a basis for retaining the material." That bill passed through a Senate Criminal Justice Committee and is headed to the Committee on Education K-12. If passed, work "by Shakespeare or other very well-known authors would be on the chopping block in our public schools, which brings us in the in the wrong direction all over again," Smith said. And most worrisome for Rayne, the Manatee County community organizer, is "Official Actions of Local Governments" (SB 420), which would prohibit counties and municipalities from funding, promoting or taking official action as it relates to DEI. It would prohibit local governments from promoting or providing differential or preferential treatment or special benefits to a person or group based on that person's or group's race, color, sex, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation. Critics of the bill included some Republicans, who said the bill needed more work, especially with the word "differential" versus "preferential." "If we provide differential treatment to a person based on sex, that could create a problem with a program that was intended for abused women, which nobody would want to get rid of," said Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples. "We really need to hone in on where you're trying to go." The bill still passed along party lines, with all Republicans voting yes. Rayne said she believes this bill, along with many of the other anti-DEI measures, are broadly written, poorly defined and don't serve the diverse, unique population of Florida. "It's going to put Floridians' lives at risk and further erase our culture," she said. "These bills are not what people are talking about at their kitchen table. "Culture wars are not what Floridians care about." Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@ This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: LGBTQ advocates march to Florida Capitol to protest anti-DEI bills
