Florida Introduces Bill to Ban 'Political' Flags
What's NewFlorida State Senator Randy Fine has introduced a bill aimed at banning flags representing political viewpoints, race, sexual orientation, or gender from being displayed at public schools, colleges, universities and government buildings.Newsweek reached out to Fine via email for comment.Why It MattersSenate Bill 100, introduced by Fine on Monday, mimics other recent legislation that has sought to ban ideological flags in public schools.
LGBTQ+ advocates argue the moves reflect a broader wave of GOP-endorsed reform and policy efforts to restrict LGBTQ+ rights that include book bans, changes to school curricula, attacks on the use of preferred pronouns and restriction of reproductive rights."A governmental entity may not erect or display a flag that represents a political viewpoint, including, but not limited to, a politically partisan, racial, sexual orientation and gender, or political ideology viewpoint," the bill states. "The governmental entity must remain neutral when representing political viewpoints in displaying or erecting a flag."The bill does not specify which exact flags would be banned, but Fine has highlighted flags related to Black Lives Matter and Palestine as examples and insinuated that LGBTQ+ Pride flags are included."For example, a flag like Palestine.
That's not a place that exists," Fine told Jacksonville's News4JAX when asked to clarify what he considers a political flag. "These are political messages that not everyone agrees with."He said in a statement: "Supporters of Muslim terror, child mutilators, and groomers have no right to taxpayer sponsorship of their repugnant messages.
As I prepare to leave the Senate, I look forward to ensuring the only official place in a government building that you will find their flags is in a garbage can."Fine has not specified whether the bill would ban the Confederate flag.
