As horrifying, authoritarian, and fascist as Florida HB 1557 is—also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill—outraged Floridians are forcing those endorsing it to turn to even more extreme measures. The latest was a town hall Monday with several state officials. The town hall was hosted by Brandon Straka, a convicted Jan. 6 insurrectionist.
The event took place at Twitter Spaces (basically Twitter’s version of Facebook Live) and it was marketed as “Don’t Say ‘Don’t Say Gay.’” Straka is the out, gay leader of the #WalkAway movement, a demented push for Democrats to leave the party. He’s also currently on probation after taking a plea deal after being charged with taking a shield from a U.S. Capitol Police officer during the riot at the Capitol.
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Monday night’s event included a lineup of stellar anti-LGBTQ, MAGA-loving crazies, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Press Secretary Christina Pushaw; deranged right-wing kook Christian Walker, who is the son of Georgia senate candidate Herschal Walker; conservative gay activist David Leatherwood; Rep. Joe Harding, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill’s sponsor; Rep. John Synder, the bill’s co-sponsor; and gay conservative writer Mike Harlow.
“When you have someone who is a Jan. 6 rioter, a guy who literally tried to overthrow this government, I don’t find that reputable,” Rep. Michele Rayner, a St. Petersburg Democrat, told Florida Politics about the event.
The bill bans any and all instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity from being taught in kindergarten through third grade and requires such instruction to be “age-appropriate” at all levels of public schools. The bill also permits parents to sue the school district if students are encouraged to discuss sexual orientation or gender identity in the classroom.
DeSantis has signaled support for the hateful bill. He has not explicitly pledged to sign it, but as it heads to his desk, it’s more than likely he will sign it into law. If he does, the law would go into effect on July 1, 2022.
“Any stage I get to correct the record, I am going to take it,” Harding said. “I will use this stage to fight a complete lie in the media, and Florida Politics has been a part of spreading it.”
The lie Harding is referring to is the simple denial that the bill is discriminatory. But it is, of course.
Rayner, the only openly lesbian member of the Florida Legislature, told Florida Politics she was outraged about the Straka’s event and the LGBTQ+ members of the House who chose to be there.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to be on a panel with a woman who is the Governor’s mouthpiece after she called myself, Rep. [Carlos Guillermo] Smith and Sen. [Shevrin] Jones groomers and pedophiles, and opponents of this bill groomers and pedophiles,” she said, referencing all sitting LGBTQ members of the Legislature.
Pushaw fired off a tweet last week accusing those who oppose the bill of being pedophiles.
“The bill that liberals inaccurately call 'Don’t Say Gay' would be more accurately described as an Anti-Grooming Bill,” Pushaw wrote. “If you’re against the Anti-Grooming Bill, you are probably a groomer or at least you don’t denounce the grooming of 4-8 year old children. Silence is complicity. This is how it works, Democrats, and I didn’t make the rules.”
Equality Florida, the state’s largest LGBTQ rights advocacy organization, called Pushaw’s tweets a “bigoted anti-LGBTQ rant.”
“Governor DeSantis’ spokesperson said the quiet part out loud: that this bill is grounded in a belief that LGBTQ people, simply by existing, are a threat to children and must be erased. He chose Pushaw to speak his mind to the public. He owns this unbridled hatred,” read a statement Equality Florida released.
Straka has been in an ongoing war with the media about the bigoted Florida bill.
“The left’s ‘#DontSayGay’ lie affects EVERYONE,” he tweeted. “This is not an ‘LGBT’ issue. It’s about the left maligning every Republican. Everyone needs to care about this because it’s not about the cause, it’s about the tactics they use. Push back.”
Since Straka is still on house arrest for his part in the insurrection on Jan. 6, he hosted the town hall from his parents’ basement in Nebraska.