August 23, 2024 11:13 AM UTC

Gov. Polis Rolls Out Welcome Mat For Florida's Spurned LGBTQ+ Tourists

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• by: Colorado Pols

AP reports from the Sunshine State, where the petty culture-war persecution of LGBTQ+ people by the state’s belligerently conservative Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken another small-minded turn, and this time could cost the state millions in tourism revenue:

Key West, Fort Lauderdale, Wilton Manors and St. Petersburg are among several Florida cities that have long been top U.S. destinations for LGBTQ+ tourists. So it came as a surprise this week when travelers learned that Florida’s tourism marketing agency quietly removed the “LGBTQ Travel” section from its website sometime in the past few months. [Pols emphasis]

Business owners who cater to Florida’s LGBTQ+ tourists said Wednesday that it marked the latest attempt by officials in the state to erase the LGBTQ+ community. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis previously championed a bill to forbid classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, and supported a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, as well as a law meant to keep children out of drag shows.

“It’s just disgusting to see this,” said Keith Blackburn, who heads the Greater Fort Lauderdale LGBT Chamber of Commerce. “They seem to want to erase us.”

As everyone who has ever deposited a line of content into the permanent record of the internet should know by now, there’s no such thing as deletion, and the attempt to remove content usually has the effect of drawing more attention to what was removed than if they had just left it in place. By removing the whole section of the state’s tourism website catering to LGBTQ+ travelers, the state of Florida is sending another clear message that this segment of the tourist market is not welcome.

And just as he has in previous similar instances, Colorado’s Gov. Jared Polis is ready to help Colorado capitalize on Florida’s throwback hostility to LGBTQ+ people, inviting would-be Florida tourists to spend their money in our state instead:

Hello gay tourists! Since Florida doesn’t want you, come on over to explore what Colorado has to offer!

In Colorado, we really don’t care about who you date we just appreciate you supporting our economy and spending money in our great stores and restaurants.

And you’ll have a gay old time!

During the peak of hostilities between DeSantis and Disney, Polis invited the Magic Kingdom to relocate to Colorado–admittedly unlikely due to the climate difference that would shut the place down in the winter, but still a reminder that tourists have socially conscious alternatives to spend their money on. It’s a competitive strategy that paid off brilliantly in 2021 when Major League Baseball relocated the All-Star Game to Denver in protest of Georgia’s newly-passed vote suppression laws.

Even if you don’t agree on every issue, you can increasingly take Colorado’s tolerant politics to the bank.