Why Ron DeSantis could soon live to regret ever messing with the LGBTQ community
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has never been popular among LGBTQ advocates in Florida, but his recently waged culture war against the community has made him even more of an adversary.
That could be a big problem for him in the upcoming midterm election, according to a new poll by GLAAD.GLAAD’s polling found that over half of Florida’s LGBTQ and ally communities are concerned about DeSantis and other Florida lawmakers “stripping away” civil rights through legislation like the Parental Rights in Education, aka “Don’t Say Gay” law that went into effect last month.77% of survey respondents “strongly agree it’s more important than ever to vote this year because ‘basic human rights for women and LGBTQ Floridians are starting to be taken away by elected officials currently in charge of Florida’s government.’”Related: Florida high school enacts insane new LGBTQ policy and everyone’s thinking the same thingGLAAD further reports that LGBTQ residents make up 4.6% of Florida’s total population, and its analysis says that could be enough to sway the governor’s race.In the last gubernatorial race, DeSantis beat his Democratic opponent, Andrew Gillum, by around 32,000 votes.
8.2 million people voted in that election, according to the Florida Department of State.“In a midterm election where mobilizing turnout is critical (and challenging) for each side, Florida is poised to see a surge in voting participation by LGBTQ voters and LGBTQ allies who voted in the last Presidential election but not the last midterm,” the polling group, Pathfinder Opinion Research, said. “Both groups say they are even more motivated to vote in this midterm election than they were in the last Presidential election.
