Resistance Report Week 6: Keeping the Pressure On

This week, our volunteers met with a number of lawmakers to make their voices heard about bad bills moving through the legislature, as well as the good bills that will help restore our freedoms. 

These meetings are crucial. Not only do they humanize the issues impacting our community, but they allow lawmakers to hear from the people who will be directly affected by the laws they’re trying to pass.

Our Pride At The Capitol program is a vital element in our battle against detrimental bills and preparing for possible legal confrontations with enacted laws.

This program relies heavily on the support of advocates for equality like YOU. Your active participation in Tallahassee, through sharing personal stories and contributing to public discourse in committee hearings, is necessary. The Equality Florida Team is determined to actively fight back against harmful bills during the whole 60-day legislative session, but it's your voices that truly amplify our impact. Find a Pride At The Capitol Day that works for you.

If you can’t join us in person, please consider a donation to help us get as many people to Tallahassee as possible. Every dollar counts! 

We will never stop fighting back. And we’ll continue to make headlines by resisting and making our voices heard. 

This week’s WINNER is Representative Michele Rayner for sponsoring the Freedom To Learn Act (SB 1414/HB 1355) that would restore our education freedoms stripped away by Governor DeSantis’s censorship and surveillance agenda. Earlier this week, DeSantis held a press conference where he acted SHOCKED that his vague and punitive censorship laws have resulted in Florida being named the #1 book-banning state in the country. DeSantis is now trying to backtrack on the chaos he’s created. It sounds a lot like the Governor is signaling support for Rayner’s Freedom To Learn Act that would curb Florida's rampant book-banning; allow the honest teaching of history in schools, including LGBTQ history; permit affirming titles and pronouns; and foster Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives on college and university campuses. 

This week’s LOSER is Rep. Tiffany Esposito for sponsoring the Preemption of Employment Protections Bill (HB 433), which threatens existing and future local employment nondiscrimination protections. Rep. Esposito has expressly confirmed on the record that this bill would nullify existing discrimination protections for employees on the basis of things like race, national origin, sexual orientation, and gender identity — rolling back protections that have been in place for decades with broad support from the public and businesses. 

Now, we're going to take you through exactly what happened in Week #6, what's still coming, and how you can take action.

The Transgender Erasure Bill (HB 1639)

Sponsors: Reps. Doug Bankson and Dean Black

• What it does: The Trans Erasure Bill is a sweeping new assault on the rights and dignity of transgender Floridians that seeks to further disenfranchise the community, create costly new barriers to accessing lifesaving care, and increases Floridians' insurance premiums, LGBTQ or not. The bill requires all health insurance plans in the state to cover the widely debunked, fraudulent and dangerous practice of “conversion therapy”, specifically for gender identity. Additionally, it requires that government driver's license and ID card applications collect information on applicants’ sex assigned at birth rather than their gender.
   
• What’s coming: HB 1639 is now awaiting a hearing in the House Infrastructure Strategies Committee, its final committee stop before it heads to the House floor for a full vote. It’s likely to be scheduled for this coming Thursday’s agenda — so we need to keep the pressure up! 
   
• How you can help: We need you to contact members of the House Infrastructure Strategies Committee right away and urge them to vote NO on HB 1639. Click here to send a message. 

Pride Flag Ban Bill (HB 901/SB 1120)

Sponsors: Rep. David Borrero, Rep. Randy Fine, and Sen. Jonathan Martin 

• What it does: Flags have historically been used to connect communities as an expression of free speech. The Pride Flag Ban Bill bans public buildings from raising or displaying any flag that represents a “political viewpoint,” including Pride Flags. This is one more part of the DeSantis agenda of censorship. Born largely from far-right activists protesting LGBTQ pride flags on government buildings, it attacks visibility in public spaces and classrooms for all minority groups.
   
• What’s coming: Together, we achieved a significant victory in defeating the Florida Senate bill aimed at banning the rainbow flag, a symbol of LGBTQ defiance against discrimination. But the House version of the bill is still a threat — and could be scheduled for a vote in its final committee stop any day now.
   
• How you can help: The fight is not over! The next committee stop for HB 901 is the House State Affairs Committee. Click here to send messages to members of that Committee urging them to oppose HB 901. 

The Juvenile Justice Package (HB 1425/SB 1352)

Sponsors: Rep. Taylor Yarkosky and Sen. Jennifer Bradley

• What it does: Among various reforms, the Juvenile Justice Package mandates inferior treatment for transgender youth, who would be denied access to programming, services, interventions, and facilities that affirm their gender identities, and would, instead, be classified, under this bill, according to their sex assigned at birth, potentially suffering worse outcomes as a result. 
   
• What happened: HB 1425 PASSED out of the House Judiciary Committee this week, its final stop before heading to the House floor. SB 1352 is still awaiting a vote in its final committee, Senate Fiscal Policy.

• How you can help: We need you to contact your Representative and members of the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee and urge them to vote NO on HB 1425/SB 1352.

The Preemption of Employment Protections Bill (HB 433/SB 1492)

Sponsors:  Rep. Tiffany Esposito and Sen. Jay Trumbull

• What it does: The Preemption of Employment Protections Bill threatens existing and future local employment nondiscrimination protections. It would repeal or ban local governments from adopting nondiscrimination policies on "conditions of employment," which already protect 60% of Floridians. This is legislative interference with local control and a dramatic roll back of local priorities that have been in place with broad support from the public and businesses for years. The Senate version has been amended to remove broad provisions related to ”wage or employment benefits” but still attacks the freedom of local governments to protect outdoor workers from heat stress.
   
• What happened: HB 433 PASSED out of the House State Affairs Committee this week, its second of three committee stops. It now heads to its final committee, the House Commerce Committee.  

• How you can help: We need you to contact members of the House Commerce Committee and urge them to oppose HB 433. Click here to send a message. 

In addition to the bad bills that moved this week or are scheduled to be heard next week, we also need to keep up the pressure on the bills, both bad AND good, that may move later this session. 

 THE GOOD BILLS 

We’re keeping up the pressure on lawmakers to support and co-sponsor these bills, and we need your help. 

 The PEP Access Bill (HB 159/SB 1320) 

Sponsors: Rep. Gallop Franklin and Sen. Alexis Calatayud

• What it does: These bills facilitate greater access to medications that are critical to preventing HIV transmission by allowing pharmacists to dispense PEP under physician-developed protocols. The legislation recognizes the tremendous scientific advances in the fight to combat HIV and AIDS and allows people to take personal responsibility for their health, an important step towards ending Florida’s HIV epidemic.

• What happened:  HB 159 PASSED unanimously out of its second and final committee, the House Health and Human Services Committee. It will now face a full House vote. SB 1320 is awaiting a vote in the Senate Rules Committee, its third and final committee stop.

• How you can help: We need you to contact members of the Florida House and the Senate Rules Committee to urge them to vote YES on SB 1320/HB 159. Click here to send a message. 

Pride At The Capitol Volunteers at The PEP Access Bill Hearing!

 The Health Care Freedom Act (SB 1404/HB 1283) 

Sponsors: Rep. Anna V. Eskamani and Sen. Shevrin Jones

• Restores Reproductive Rights: Repeals Governor DeSantis’ 15-Week and 6-Week Abortion Bans, reinstating abortion access up until the start of the third trimester, in line with broader medical and legal standards.
   
• Protects Medical Care For Transgender People: Eliminates restrictions on essential medical care for transgender individuals, ensuring access to treatments supported by leading medical authorities like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association.

 Freedom to Learn Act (SB 1414/HB 1355) 

Sponsors: Rep. Michele Rayner and Sen. Tracie Davis

• Safeguards Academic Freedom: Repeals provisions of the Stop WOKE Act and the “Don’t Say LGBTQ” law, protecting the right to discuss systemic injustices and LGBTQ topics in educational settings.
   
• Promotes Inclusive Education: Requires the inclusion of LGBTQ history in public education, alongside Holocaust education, African American history, and women's contributions, and restricts book-banning practices by limiting who can raise objections to school materials to only parents of public school students.

Click here to send a message to lawmakers urging them to support the two Freedom bills. 

 BAD BILL TO WATCH 

Don’t Say Gay or Trans at Work (HB 599/SB 1382)

Sponsors: Rep. Ryan Chamberlin and Sen. Jonathan Martin

• Expands Don’t Say Gay or Trans to the Workplace: Aims to expand provisions of the  Don’t Say Gay or Trans law into public and private workplaces and nonprofits. This alarming expansion of political control and censorship will prohibit government employees or contractors from being required to respect an individual's preferred pronouns if they don’t align with the individual's sex assigned at birth. It also bars them from sharing their own preferred pronouns if not aligned with their sex assigned at birth, which significantly impacts transgender employees’ ability to express their identity.
   
• Restricts LGBTQ+ Nonprofits and Education: The bill seeks to ban tax-exempt nonprofits or employers receiving state funds from conducting any “activities” or training related to sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression as a condition of employment. It also introduces protections for so-called "biology-based beliefs," essentially providing a legal shield for discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals. This could have dire consequences for LGBTQ+ organizations and advocacy groups in Florida, potentially forcing them to cease operations or significantly alter their missions.

Click here to send a message to lawmakers urging them to oppose this bad bill. 

If you haven’t already, make sure you check out our RESIST merch – an easy way to send a message that we are all Floridians, and we aren’t going anywhere! We have pins, shirts, and flags that you can wear proudly to show your support. Click here to check out our online store! 

As we continue on over the next 21 days, we must remember that our voices matter, our actions matter, and our movement matters.

Make sure you’re following us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates. 

Together, we will resist, and we will make a difference.