Democrats tried to stop Republicans who control Florida government from implementing a ban on abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy, warning it would produce a political backlash in 2022. Now, with Florida about to enact the restrictions, the backlash shows little sign of materializing, even as the Legislature is advancing other high profile conservative social causes.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick condemned Gov. Ron DeSantis’ proposed map of Florida congressional districts on Monday, arguing it would seriously harm Black voters. Under the proposed DeSantis map, all the Palm Beach County voters in her 20th Congressional District would be removed, leaving her with a Broward-only district. The 20th District is crafted to make it much more likely that Black residents of the two counties would be represented by a Black member of Congress.
TALLAHASSEE The Republican-controlled Florida Senate appears to be abandoning a controversial transgender sports ban, a development that would hand LGBTQ activists and Democrats a huge victory.
The bill, which specifies that K-12 and college sports teams must be designated based on “biological” sex while charging state agencies with crafting policies to hash out gender disputes, was condemned by the LGBTQ community and lawmakers who viewed the measure as discriminatory toward transgender students. Ding dong the witch is dead, tweeted state Sen. Janet Cruz (D-Tampa), a critic of the bill. Rip Transgender bill.
The issue was magnified last week when the NCAA put states like Florida on notice just before the Florida House voted for the measure, warning that locations that don’t treat all student athletes with “dignity and respect” could be ineligible to host future championship games.