LGBTQ news and entertainment
Lawmakers in the West Virginia state Senate have approved legislation that would revoke non-discrimination ordinances in 20 cities across the state that protect members of the LGBTQ community from being evicted or fired based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Continue reading “West Virginia Senate Moves To Revoke Local LGBTQ Protections”
In this week’s episode of The Randy Report podcast: • President Biden appoints an out police chief to head up Customs and Border Protections • A new vaccine shows enormous promise against HIV • Polling shows Americans overwhelmingly oppose anti-transgender legislation • Colton Underwood, star of ‘The Bachelor,’ comes out as gay and gets some backlash • The third and final season of the ground-breaking FX series POSE will premiere in May – click here for trailer • And LGBTQ entertainment critics will have their say on the best in cinema from the past year at the Dorians Film Toast 2021 All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report
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| Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr – CC license) |
As new governors take office across the nation, many begin their tenures by issuing executive orders banning discrimination in terms of state government.
Both Michigan and Wisconsin saw their respective new governors, both Democrats, issue anti-discrimination orders quickly after being sworn in.
Those orders prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, age, race, color, national origin, religion disability, marital status, sexual orientation and gender identity in regard to state employment and state contracting.
But in Florida, it’s a very different situation.
Newly-seated Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis did sign a non-discrimination executive order this week, but the omission of LGBT protections in his directive is glaring.
Equality Florida’s senior political director, Joe Saunders, was quick to call out DeSantis for excluding LGBT Floridian’s in his executive order.
“Equality Florida is deeply disappointed to see that LGBTQ employees and contractors have been left out of the governor’s executive order,” Saunders said.
The lack of LGBT-inclusive protections is a sad continuation of Florida’s previous governor, Republican Rick Scott, who refused to issue an anti-LGBT discrimination executive order, even following the devastating mass-shooting at Pulse Nightclub on June 12, 2016, that left 49 LGBTQ people dead.
“As governors across the country establish these critical protections for LGBTQ families, this order draws a stark contrast,” said Saunders.
“We look forward to a dialogue with Gov. DeSantis about why LGBTQ employees have been omitted from this critical policy and how he plans to make sure that all Floridians, regardless of who they are or who they love, can be protected from discrimination,” he added.