Following hateful anti-LGBTQ rhetoric from the DeSantis Adminstration’s spokesperson over the weekend, House Democratic Caucus Leader Evan Jenne (D- Hollywood) issued the following statement:
“Over the weekend we saw the DeSantis Administration drag out an old anti-LGBTQ trope to demonize and lie about the opponents of the Don’t Say Gay bill.
To spread the slander that my good friends Carlos Guillermo Smith, Michele Rayner, or Shev Jones are in some way connected to pedophilia is disgusting and so far beyond acceptable that I was shocked when I read it, and it’s pretty hard to shock me in 2022.
For someone who speaks for the governor of Florida to spread this hateful rhetoric is unacceptable and dangerous. This lie could enflame emotions and put people in actual danger.
It’s frankly pathetic to demonize any community to satisfy the political ambitions of one man. Unfortunately, this is a sad commentary on where we are in politics right now.
Demonizing the LGBTQ community is not the way to build Florida back.
I cannot imagine Governors Bush, Martinez, Crist, or Scott allowing this to happen in their office, but we live in strange times now.”
