Just recently, the LGBTQ+ community travel pages were quietly deleted from the official travel website for Florida, VisitFlorida, which has brought scrutiny to the issue.
The CEO of the website was quite vague about the removal saying, “It’s fairly simple. Visit Florida is a taxpayer-funded organization and, as such, Visit Florida our marketing strategy, our materials and our content must align with the state.”
I can assure you, this removal might align with the current government of the state, it does not align with the people. Most places in Florida are very accepting to all people and the majority of us embrace diversity.
I do not believe that the locals or the business majorities in Florida agree with the fact that removing those pages aligns with the state. I am a tax payer and Visit Florida’s marketing strategy does not align with me. Removing a specific community from your website is a clear indication of what you are trying to say.
Now, based on the statement by CEO, Dana Young, it is not clear who made the decision. Ron DeSantis put out a statement saying he was aware of it after the fact and that Florida is a welcoming state. But he said it in a way that seemed vague as well saying that “we are not going to be segregating people by these different characteristics, that’s not how we’ve done business”. So was this suggested by the governor and Dana Young made the call? Or was it Dana Young’s decision? Or, worse case scenario, did the Florida Government and Ron Desantis make them to take that off the website. He has been very vocal about his position on L
So, here at FloridaSmart, we want to give a special shoutout to the LGBTQ+ community and will be posting more content to help you in your quest for travel and local information.
Want to share your experiences? Send us your article or reviews of locations you visit and help us build a better and more informative destination for you to explore.
