Gov. Ron DeSantis Puts Out the Welcome Mat for Hate in the Sunshine State

Emboldened Nazis wave Hitler flags outside of Disney

In 1992 I started an organization in South Florida, Sons & Daughters of America, that promoted LGBTQ visibility. To fund our work, I sold t-shirts with the slogan, “Fight Hate in the Sunshine State”. Most of the hate during this era came from Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, which was led by arch-homophobe televangelist D. James Kennedy.

In 1998, Coral Ridge spearheaded a million dollar “ex-gay” advertising campaign. In major newspapers and television stations, it promised that LGBTQ people could become straight through prayer and therapy. At the time, the Religious Right did backflips not to appear bigoted. The campaign was misnamed “Truth in Love” and the tagline was “It’s not about hate, it’s about hope.”

In today’s Florida, led by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the niceties are apparently no longer necessary. Why sugarcoat when you can insult and gloat? Why worry about selling hope when you can be gratuitously hateful? After all, feelings don’t matter in a state where snowflakes don’t even exist in winter.

Florida has always had a mixed identity. It welcomes tourists with a smile, while also giving the country Anita Bryant’s toothy grin, while she viciously crusaded to “Save the Children” from homosexuals in the late 1970s.  However, the state previously tried to uphold its dual identity of nice and naughty. That began to change when Gov. Ron DeSantis was sent to Tallahassee in 2019.

DeSantis’ first year in office was pockmarked by the Make America Straight Again conference. The event took place at a fundamentalist church in the shadow of Disney. Hate preachers from across the country showed up to mock the victims of the tragic Pulse nightclub massacre on its three-year anniversary. While protesting this conference, I filmed a hate preacher who came outside to call us “freaks” and spewed, “get AIDS and die”.

Where was Gov. Ron DeSantis to defend the memory of the Pulse shooting victims and to forcefully condemn hate? That’s a rhetorical question. As if the Florida fascist, who seeks his own private army, would condemn the bigots in his base.

Unfortunately, intolerance is a virulent weed that flourishes when fertilized. DeSantis tilled this fetid field with his indifference, spawning a robust harvest of hate. In January, a group of white supremacists marched in Orlando. They yelled anti-Semitic slurs and screamed “White power!”, while waving an anti-Biden banner.

DeSantis’s press secretary, Christina Pushaw, tweeted about the Nazi march (she later deleted it after blistering criticism): “Do we even know they’re Nazis? Or is this a stunt like the ‘white nationalists’ who crashed the Youngkin rally in Charlottesville and turned out to be Dem staffers? I trust Florida law enforcement to investigate and am awaiting their conclusions.”

(Remember, Pushaw is the same despicable liar who Tweeted that opponents of a recently passed “Don’t Say Gay” law were “groomers”. While she masquerades as a good Christian, there is no one who is more dishonest and dishonorable in Florida politics today.)

Instead of making it clear that Nazis aren’t welcome in Florida, DeSantis played the victim and whined, “So what I’m going to say is these people, these Democrats who are trying to use this as some type of political issue to try to smear me as if I had something to do with that, we’re not playing their game.”

Playing with the state’s reputation and the safety of its citizens is not a game. Condemning Nazis used to be a bipartisan affair, but apparently Florida Republicans have opted out and tacitly sided with the swastikas.

Apparently, the Nazis noticed DeSantis’ welcome mat. Over the weekend they brazenly waved Hitler flags outside the entrance to Walt Disney World. Their efforts were part of a disgusting protest against “grooming”, which is a smear campaign falsely accusing LGBTQ people of recruiting children.

While DeSantis is cynically fixating on Mickey Mouse for political gain, he remains largely silent while these white power whackos are emboldened. DeSantis pretends to be a tough guy, yet he has proven himself to be a cowardly demagogue who is devoid of leadership and panders to the bottom of the barrel. Given the governor’s appalling lack of leadership, is there any doubt that these unsavory elements are going to be encouraged to expand their Florida footprint?

As a native Floridian, I want my state back. I’m fed up with this new breed of belligerent Republican, many who are carpetbaggers like Donald Trump, coming down to sell out our future by peddling intolerance. The old Florida haters were at least ashamed of their antisocial behavior and worked to mask their malfeasance. The new batch of bigots are loud and proud of their prejudice. 

Floridians should say enough of this insanity and vote out any politician that is weak and wobbly on Nazis. Condemning such deplorable behavior should not be a partisan issue. Unfortunately, we will continue to see Hitler Flags, if Republicans like Gov. DeSantis wave white flags that surrender the Sunshine State to those who hate.