LGBT groups issue Florida travel advisories.

LGBT Groups Issue Travel Warnings for Florida

Florida has been declared unsafe for the LGBT community and black people by the NAACP and LGBT groups. The state’s anti-LGBT laws, gun laws, abortion restrictions, and racial prejudice have made it a hostile place for those who identify as LGBT. In response, Equality Florida and the Human Rights Campaign have issued an updated travel advisory that details the risks associated with relocation or travel to the state.

The travel advisory is not a blanket recommendation against travel or a call for boycott, but it outlines the devastating impacts of laws that are hostile to the LGBTQ community. This warning comes even as Miami, the state’s second-largest city, ranks as one of the “gayest” cities in the country. The LGBT community in Miami-Dade County even has its own Chamber of Commerce. Two other Florida cities, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, were ranked the second- and third-most LGBT-friendly cities in America last year by LawnStarter.

Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also joined the criticism of the state, stating that “Ron DeSantis’s ultra-MAGA Florida isn’t safe for people of color, LGBTQ+ people, or even multi-billion dollar corporations.”

However, the NAACP’s travel advisory for black people has been met with contradictory data. Black Floridians enjoy lower unemployment, higher median incomes, and lower rates of both hate crimes and police killings than their counterparts in other states. When confronted with this data, the president of the group called it “propaganda language.”

Travel Advisory Details

• Florida is unsafe for the LGBT community and black people due to anti-LGBT laws, gun laws, abortion restrictions, and racial prejudice.
• The travel advisory is not a blanket recommendation against travel or a call for boycott, but it outlines the devastating impacts of laws that are hostile to the LGBTQ community.

Contradictory Data

• Black Floridians enjoy lower unemployment, higher median incomes, and lower rates of both hate crimes and police killings than their counterparts in other states.
• The president of the NAACP called this data “propaganda language.”