In 2015, then-governor Mike Pence signed a law that allowed businesses to discriminate against gay couples. This was legislation that 70% of Indiana opposed, as did most of the state’s top businesses. Yet the culture-war-obsessed GOP did it anyway, and the backlash was immediate. Across the nation, businesses cut ties with Indiana, costing it a quarter billion dollars. Cities, states, and corporations banned travel there for conferences, costing the state millions more. Sports teams and performers refused to play there. Hoosiers were livid because they were suffering for something they never wanted, and Pence was under tremendous pressure to change course. He finally did just that and signed into law a “fix” that essentially reversed the bill.
The same thing happened with North Carolina's “bathroom bill” that targeted and harassed transgender people. Businesses left, major expansions were stopped, and both major sporting events and concerts were canceled. TheGOP governor was forced to repeal it, saying “for over a year now, House Bill 2 has been a dark cloud hanging over our great state. It has stained our reputation. It has discriminated against our people and it has caused great economic harm in many of our communities.” Yet Florida has been far more oppressive than anything we’ve ever seen, and the response has been negligible.
Against Florida’s constitution, our white supremacist governor illegally drew his own map and eliminated the Black-majority districts. Teachers are now under assault: they can now get sued if they dare even answer a question that comes up about homosexuality, they are banned from teaching civil rights topics in schools, and can’t even use math books that show images of diversity. Meanwhile, DeSantis has tried to legalize running over peaceful protesters, created a Gestapo-like election police force, and punishes corporations that dare to speak out against his hateful agenda. However, I don’t see anything close to the outcry that happened with other states not long ago. Corporations have beennoticeably silent about our descent into fascism, and activists in and outside the state haven’t organized campaigns targeting our state. This begs the question: did we just give up on Florida?