Journalists Too Tense to Go to Red State Florida
Investigative journalists claim they are some of the most intrepid and fearless people in the country, but flying to Orlando, Florida for a conference next month has them nervous and all keyed up.
Orlando, they say, isn’t safe.
On Thursday, the people who lead the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) organization warned members that GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis puts them in peril.
“In advance of the 2023 IRE Conference in Orlando, some of our members have expressed concern about their safety, especially in light of new legislation in Florida aimed at the LGBTQ+ community passed this year,” IRE warned members in an email Thursday.
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“We want to reiterate that we will do everything we can to ensure all attendees are supported and protected. If anybody feels unsafe during the conference, they should seek out an IRE staff member or board member for assistance. They are there to help. IRE also has a Code of Conduct to address complaints of discriminatory or harassing behavior.”
This is ridiculous.
Why do IRE members fear for their safety?
Leftists dislike four bills that DeSantis recently signed into law. One bans gender-related care. One bans trans people from using restrooms that align with their gender identities. Another prohibits adult performances in front of minors. The fourth one forbids sexual orientation or gender identity instruction in pre-K through eighth grade.
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That’s it. DeSantis signed bills into law that prevent leftists from grooming innocent children. Liberals didn’t get their way. Therefore, DeSantis is a menace to the common good, and shellshocked liberals must hide under their covers to suck on their thumbs.
These pieces of legislation are more than reasonable.
Because of these laws, members of the Human Rights Campaign issued a travel notice for Florida. They warned that the risks of visiting the state are too great for minorities, immigrants, and LGBTQ people.
The IRE and the Human Rights Campaign are not the only groups who panic about the Sunshine State.
As RVIVR reported in March, the NAACP advises black people that it’s in their best interests not to move or even travel to Florida. This is because DeSantis refuses to allow teachers to promote Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the state’s public schools.
DeSantis recently blocked Florida’s public-school administrators from implementing a new high school Advanced Placement (AP) program due to its leftist political biases.
As The Wall Street Journal reported in January, that program promotes, among other things, reparations, Black Lives Matter, and “Black Queer Studies.
According to numbers that the U.S. Census Bureau released in December, Florida, after decades of rapid population increases, is now the nation’s fastest growing state.
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