On Jan. 17, the Florida State House moved forward with a proposed bill that would ban the display of “political” flags by public officials. The bill, HB901, is part of a long trend of bills designed to attack marginalized communities and push a socially conservative agenda.
Floridians are used to the constant influx of bills and legislation that try to undermine the existence of the LGBTQ+ community, most notably Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay Bill,” which banned LGBTQ+ education in elementary schools. HB901 has the same effect as the “Don’t Say Gay Bill,” in the sense that it is not a practical piece of legislation, but a virtue signal by the Republican party. It lives as a reminder to their supporters and the people of Florida that they do not condone the existence of these people or groups. The bill does nothing to solve any problems or make anyone’s lives better and only exists to heat culture war issues.
HB901 also makes it clear that, in their opinion, sexuality is not an identity but rather a political opinion. The bill states, “A governmental entity may not erect or display a flag that represents a political viewpoint, including, but not limited to, a politically partisan, racial, sexual orientation and gender or political ideology viewpoint.”
The bill acquaints having a Trump 2024 flag in a government building to having a pride flag, which is not even close to being comparable. Being a Trump supporter is a political identity, but supporting the LGBTQ+ community is not supporting a political viewpoint, but rather a gender or sexual identity. A pride flag is not signaling political allegiance, it is signaling pride with one’s own identity, an identity that for centuries has been demonized and suppressed.
While I may not be a member of the LGBTQ+ community, the attack on it is still one that is incredibly personal. My grandfather was a gay man and he lived in the closet for decades, until he left Long Island for New York City where he started working as a hairstylist. Unfortunately, I never got to meet him since he passed away due to AIDS in the early 1990s.
While my grandfather’s actions are not immune from criticism, one of the underlying causes of all this hardship and trauma for everyone involved, was the lack of LGBTQ+ acceptance during that era. It was a time when it was not socially acceptable to be gay, and if you came out you were shunned and socially exiled by your community.
In the decades since, massive strides in the acceptance of LGBTQ+ people have been made. Through the efforts of grassroots organizing, over 70% of Americans support gay marriage. We live in a world where stories like my grandfather’s will hopefully happen less and less.
However, the progress we have made as a society is not permanent and can still be reversed. In this country, there are still 30% of people who do not support gay marriage and the LGBTQ+ community in general. Unfortunately for us, that 30% also happens to be the most disproportionately powerful group in the country. The Republican party wants to overturn gay marriage, they say this much in their state party platforms. They are unapologetic in their intent to bring this country back into the stone age of LGBTQ+ acceptance.
Bills similar to HB901 want to bring us back to a time when LGBTQ+ people , were not accepted. They are holding on to their last few years of power before younger generations, with better political opinions, reach voting age and are desperate to reverse the progress we have made as a society.
It is important to remember that this type of legislation will not end here. They want to and will try to pass even more barbaric legislation. HB901 acts as a striking reminder that attacks on our freedom of speech and freedom of expression will continue, as long as far-right Republicans continue to control the levers of power.
