The sunshine state has a long tradition of legislating on fear. It’s easy to think it all started with the Brooks Brother’s Riot and the Y2K debacle. But it goes way back. For our purposes, I’ll just mention one name from the 1970s: Anita Bryant. She managed to set civil rights for LGBTQ+ back 30 years because she was so afraid of gay people hurting children.
It seems laughable now to most of us, but it was no joke for sexual minorities. The Republicans learned long ago that they can get their voters to the polls if they get ’em scared of gays. You would think something like the Gay Night Club massacre that happened there a few years ago, the largest mass shooting in our nation’s history, would have set them straight that it’s not straight people who should fear gay people, it’s the other way around!
Not at all. Their new fear is that teachers are making it too easy and “fun” for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Grade children to come out of the closet. (huh?) They just passed a law dubbed the “Don’t say gay” law that prevents early elementary teachers from having coming-out parties for their children. I kid you not.
Of course, they are not content to stop there. These right-wing wackos passed ANOTHER law today that actually lets ordinary citizens file a civil suit if they think you are committing voter fraud. After Texas found a loophole the skewed Supreme Court could not resist that let the average Texan sue anyone if they think they are helping someone commit the crime of providing healthcare to a woman, Florida just couldn’t resist. Read the details below.
Florida House passes election police bill, sends it to gov
Tallahassee, FL (AP) – Florida lawmakers on Wednesday passed a voting law package that would create a police force dedicated to pursuing election crimes, a proposal pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The GOP-controlled House approved the measure on a party-line vote with Republicans in support. The bill now heads to the governor’s office, where it is expected to be signed into law.
DeSantis, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, called for an election police unit in a speech last year where he referenced unspecified cases of fraud. Such allegations have become popular in parts of the GOP that have embraced former President Donald Trump’s false claims that his reelection was stolen due to widespread fraud.
Voter fraud is rare and generally detected. An Associated Press investigation of every potential case of voter fraud in the six battleground states disputed by Trump — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — found fewer than 475 cases out of 25.5 million ballots cast. There is also consensus among election officials and experts that there was no fraud that could have impacted results in the last presidential election.
Read the full article.
