Southern Progress, a liberal organisation led by Democratic Strategist Adam Parkhomenko, have placed billboards all over Florida in a direct response to the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
The billboards themselves read “Say Gay” and offer an extremely powerful message of support for LGBTQ+ youth affected by this horrific bill.
They can be spotted in the Florida cities of Tallahassee, Orlando and Jacksonville from this Friday for the next month. The group expects to add more advertising with the assistance of any fundraising money raised.
According to the campaigns website, “Over $300,000 in advertising inventory has been pre-approved in Florida for this advertisement. Please make a small contribution now and help us purchase it”
Parkhomenko Tweeted his reasoning behind the campaign, saying “Ron DeSantis and Florida Republicans have pissed us all off, So this week we are going to cover the state of Florida in these in response.”
Ron DeSantis and Florida Republicans have pissed us all off. So this week we are going to cover the state of Florida in these in response. pic.twitter.com/VjCMP6fVFW
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) March 21, 2022
The “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida is set to ban teachers and schools from including necessary discussions of LGBTQ+ people in their curriculum. Parents also have the option to sue school districts if it is violated. It would also require schools to inform parents if a student’s support services needs to change, a provision that LGBTQ+ advocates believe could result in “outing” students to their parents and potentially endangering them.
The dehumanising bill has passed the state legislature and Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to sign it over the upcoming weeks.
In a recent press conference, Ron DeSantis shared his dangerous opinions on those against the bill; “Understand, if you are out protesting this bill you are by definition putting yourself in favour of injecting sexual instruction to 5, 6 and 7 year-old kids.”
Amanda Crumley, a co-founder of the Southern Progress group, wrote an email to Insider sharing her opinions on the situation. It read, “don’t be fooled, these types of bills have nothing to do with protecting children and everything to do with discrimination and filling GOP coffers in an election year.”
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