Ron DeSantis' political targeting of the LGBTQ community

My eyes have been opened to how DeSantis has targeted the LGBTQ community in ways I didn't understand. I cannot support this.

A few weeks ago, a couple of friends told me that Ron DeSantis had become worse for LGBTQ rights than Donald Trump. After seven years of Trump being labeled by many in the community as “public enemy No. 1,” I dismissed the comments as political posturing.

It’s only in the last couple of weeks, talking with people in Florida and others across the LGBTQ community, that I now realize how very true that has become. What — in my comfortable life in Los Angeles — had seemed like some (albeit important) policy disputes between a governor and my community, I now realize a while ago became an all-out assault on LGBTQ people.

We haven’t seen this level of clear political targeting of our community since George W. Bush’s re-election campaign in 2004. 

Cyd Zeigler talks about Ron DeSantis on Queer News Tonight

It’s been a humbling experience now realizing the news and headlines I’ve missed, particularly over the last couple of months. While I’d heard about a possible limiting of LGBTQ conversation in high schools – something against which I previously spoke out – I simply did not understand the clear, full-court-press targeting of the LGBTQ community by attempting to, or succeeding in:

• Banning trans women from women’s bathrooms, going even further than North Carolina did several years ago

• Taking custody of trans kids in parental custody disputes

• Re-introducing the word “groomer” as a weapon in larger society

• Banning drag in public places, even in pride parades

• Expanding the restriction of books in schools to absurd levels

These are among other efforts clearly designed to target the LGBTQ community and silence our self-expression.

I just did not realize it had gotten this broad and this bad. 

I now understand – like I didn’t two weeks ago when I posted some potential support for DeSantis on Twitter– why DeSantis has become, for many in the LGBTQ community, public enemy No. 1.

Knowing what I know now, I cannot support Gov. DeSantis for President. And no, this doesn’t mean I’m running into the arms of former President Trump, either. 

It’s been embarrassing to realize the blind spot I had when it came to many of the initiatives that have been happening in Florida, and in recent months in particular.

Yet it’s been even more regrettable that my colleagues at Outsports — as well as our collective efforts — have been attacked because of what I said. Even worse, these amazing people have been accused of being problematic because of my personal expressed tweets.

Make no mistake: No one else at Outsports should in any way be connected with any of what I previously said on Twitter. They have made it very clear they do not agree with what I personally said.

It’s been an honor to elevate voices in our community for 24 years, and I will continue to do that. As I have done in the sports world for decades, I will continue to bring people together.

More understanding. More conversations. More thoughtful writing.

And yes, less Twitter.