Desantis dims the lights on Pride Month in Florida with "Summer of Freedom"

In case you’re not paying attention, Florida, under its current authoritarian bent, is gradually moving toward Hungary.

If you don’t believe me, consider this.

June is Pride Month. It has evolved into an annual celebration that commemorates the civil rights gains of the LGBTQ community that stemmed from the police raids on the Stonewall Inn in New York in 1969.

Pride Month takes on many forms — everything from parades, to businesses displaying rainbow flags, to an annual celebration at Disney World.

One way that Florida has marked Pride Month is by lighting the state’s iconic Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge every night in June with the rainbow colors. The bridge spans Tampa Bay from Pinellas County to Manatee County.

But now, under a directive by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the bridge will be illuminated every night in red, white and blue lights from May 27 through Labor Day in what is being called “Freedom Summer” in Florida.

“We’re kicking off summer the right way in Florida — enjoy the Summer of Freedom,” DeSantis posted on social media.

The subtext, which is not very subtle here, is that Gay Pride is “the wrong way.”

The effort seems to have sprung in part from the homophobic impulses of the Manatee County Commission, which has traditionally had to sign off on the night lighting of the bridge. And it has metastasized to other bridges in the state.

“As Floridians prepare for Freedom Summer, Florida’s bridges will follow suit, illuminating in red, white and blue from Memorial Day through Labor Day!“ announced Florida’s Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue. “Thanks to the leadership of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida continues to be the freest state in the nation.”

In other news, Perdue is one of the perps in the criminal investigation over Florida’s migrant flights from Texas that were part of a campaign stunt for DeSantis gone wrong. It’s rich when a kidnapper of hapless men, women and children considers himself on the vanguard of freedom.

And couching the removal of gay pride lighting on Florida’s bridges as a celebration of “freedom” is a mockery of history.

The Stonewall Inn riots that became the inciting event in the civil rights movement for LGBTQ people in the United States was an uprising staged by people who wanted the freedom to live without being harassed and arrested by police for simply being who they are.

Gay Pride is about freedom. So, replacing the annual Gay Pride event to celebrate “freedom” in Florida is like eliminating green and all things Irish on St. Patrick’s Day to celebrate “Florida Beer Freedom Day.”

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And there’s some collateral damage here too. In order to make a political statement against Gay Pride, DeSantis has had to create a scaffolding of deceit.

The “freedom” part is being sold as an elimination in sales tax during the month of July — a month after Gay Pride month — on recreational gear, such as fishing, boating, and camping supplies.

Florida has long had sales tax holidays during the summer, usually for back-to-school items. They weren’t called freedom events.

And by making the red-white-and-blue lighting for the whole summer, the state can point out that it isn’t only snuffing out gay pride. It also means the Sunshine Skyway Bridge won’t be illuminated at night for other summer displays.

So, the state isn’t being discriminatory. Wink, wink.

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The collateral damage includes night lightings to mark awareness of mental health, sickle cell anemia, Juneteenth, national gun violence, ovarian cancer and autism.

They’re all on the “freedom” scrap pile for DeSantis’ latest effort to engage in recreational hostility and divisiveness.

It's in character with the current batch of state lawmakers. Republican legislators advanced a bill this year that would have outlawed the display of Gay Pride flags from government buildings and public universities. The bill died in committee.

Which brings me back to Hungary. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, that country has gone out of its way to assault gay rights and freedoms.

Hungary has an “anti-propaganda” law that outlaws any content that “promotes or portrays” homosexuality to minors. It has led to homosexual couples to refrain from holding hands in public for fear of arrest.

That’s the path Florida seems to be on — second-class citizenship for its LGBTQ residents.

There’s nothing “freedom” affirming about it. So, to associate this with the colors of the American flag is the real perversion here.

If Gay Pride colors must be stricken by state order in Florida, they ought to be replaced with a more honest assessment of where we’re headed.

The bridges ought to glow at night with the red, white and green of Hungary’s flag.

Frank Cerabino is a news columnist for The Palm Beach Post, which is part of the Gannett Newspapers chain.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Desantis' "Summer of Freedom" continues culture war against June Pride