IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Hannah Willard, Public Policy Director
[email protected]
Equality Florida Calls For The Removal of Senator Frank Artiles From Office
TALLAHASSEE, FL -- Equality Florida calls on Senator Frank Artiles to resign following the latest incident in which he has used hateful racist and sexist slurs. Equality Florida’s Public Policy Director, Hannah Willard, provided the following statement:
“Once again, Florida Senator Frank Artiles’ bigotry is all over the news, this time because of racist, sexist, and homophobic slurs used against his Senate colleagues and lobbyists in Tallahassee earlier this week.
The Florida Legislative Black Caucus has filed a formal complaint with the Rules Committee calling for his immediate expulsion from the Florida Senate. Equality Florida joins the growing chorus of voices saying enough is enough - Senator Frank Artiles is unfit for office and must be removed immediately.
We call on Senate Leadership to demonstrate an authentic and unmistakable commitment to upholding a standard of basic decency by removing Artiles from office.
We know this is not the first time that Artiles has disgraced the Florida Legislature. In 2014, as a State Representative, Artiles caught on tape using the slur “hajis” for Middle Easterners or Muslims. In 2015, he introduced a deeply discriminatory bill that targeted transgender Floridians as reports surfaced of him punching a college student. He released a campaign ad that described Black Lives Matter as a terrorist organization.
His hateful personal views have infiltrated his public service and he cannot be allowed to remain in office.
Senator Artiles' racist, sexist and anti-LGBTQ vitriol is unacceptable behavior for anyone, especially someone charged with representing the best interest of the people of Florida. There is no place for Frank Artiles in Florida’s democracy, just as there is no place for discrimination of any kind in Florida.”
####
