In 2009, a friend from Texas called a toll-free St. Augustine tourism line and was advised to look elsewhere for Gay-friendly accommodations and tourism. I pointed this out at a VCB/TDC meeting, and since then, our city and county have embraced equality. But our maladroit former Congressman, Governor RONALD DION DeSANTIS, continues his Reign of Error. It's time for him to go. Term limits will end his term in January 2027. Not soon enough? From The Washington Post:
Florida runs on tourism. Residents worry LGBTQ visitors are being excluded.
A state website recently removed information geared toward queer travelers. “I shouldn’t have to be reinforcing that [Florida is safe],” one business owner said.
Rachel Covello, the founder of LGBTQ-focused Florida tourism blog OutCoast, said she noticed the page was missing from the website about a month ago.
“I’m not sure what they mean by redirecting, when there’s nothing to redirect to,” Covello said. “The website is supposed to represent the destinations that make up that state. To omit this content from this website during a peak tourist time, it hurts the community.”
“I hope they make it right,” Covello said. “We need to call these things out as we see them.”
Tourism and hospitality is Florida’s largest industry, according to the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association website. VisitFlorida.com, founded by the state legislature in 1996, sought to direct tourist marketing through a public and private partnership. About 140.6 million tourists visited Florida in 2023 and, in 2022, tourists contributed about $121.5 billion to the state’s economy and supported 2 million Florida jobs, according to the website.
An organization that advocates on behalf of the LGBTQ community, Equality Florida, warned against traveling or moving to the state last year. Bills signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) last summer that were widely regarded as anti-LGBTQ+ led some Florida residents to move elsewhere. The laws allowed doctors to deny care based on their moral beliefs, banned the use of preferred pronouns in public schools and barred children from attending drag shows, among other measures.
Communities such as Wilton Manors that heavily depend on LGBTQ tourism fear measures like these will send tourists running. Robert Boo, CEO of the Pride Center at Equality Park, an LGBTQ resource center in Wilton Manors, said it’s already a problem.
“Our community is being attacked.” Boo said. “It’s hurting your own pocket. If you’re discouraging people from coming here, how does that make fiscal sense?”
Boo said the Pride Center had to tread carefully when it was planning Pride Month events last year. Despite wanting to appeal to the hundreds of local and out-of-town people who come to Wilton Manors for the festivities, the Pride Center had to ask local bars and restaurants to avoid putting on drag performances outdoors.
“We were afraid it could come back to hurt not only them, but it could hurt us as the organizer,” he said. “We were having to seek legal advice to protect ourselves, and that’s just absolutely ridiculous.”
Lane Blackwell opened “gay-owned and operated” clothing store MojoMan Swimwear & Clothing about 12 years ago. Thirty percent of his customers have been tourists — and mainly from overseas, he said.
“Customers are calling before they get to Orlando wanting to know, ‘Hey, I’ve been there 10 years ago, but is this still a safe place to come and visit?’” he said. “I shouldn’t have to be reinforcing that Orlando is a safe place for travelers, but I do. Shame on the state for not supporting and reinforcing that everybody is going to be safe.”
Stacy Ritter, the president and CEO of Visit Lauderdale, says VisitFlorida has become divisive.
“VisitFlorida is sorely lacking in its ability to reach those communities — their marketing and promotion … doesn’t align with the values that we represent at Visit Lauderdale,” she said. “When you talk to leadership in Tallahassee, all they talk about is economic development, but the way they push these communities to the side doesn’t promote economic development and opportunity.”
Ritter said she’s not surprised by the removal of the LGBTQ information from the VisitFlorida website. However, she is troubled by how it might affect Broward County and its LGBTQ tourists — which make up about 15 percent of total tourists to the area.
Visit Lauderdale has prioritized spreading awareness of the county’s LGBTQ community, including investing $800,000 on a float at this year’s Rose Parade in California. The website also created its own diversity and inclusion webpageto make that information accessible to tourists.
Ritter thinks tourism won’t survive in Florida if the state continues to limit its marketing and leave out minority communities, she said.
“Businesses rely on LGBTQ+ travelers to keep their businesses going to put food on the table,” she added.
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