Florida legislators putting their LGBTQ bigotry into law. Don’t let them do it | Editorial

In Florida, businesses can peddle their wares in a broad and diverse marketplace or they can pander to a narrow-minded majority in the state Legislature. Usually they can do both, but it’s not as easy as it used to be.

Consider the school voucher program. It started small in the late 20th century under former Gov. Jeb Bush. Today, it weighs in at nearly $1 billion in public money and has spawned a less-than-public outfit called Step Up For Students, which “encourages philanthropy” by big players with business before the Legislature and state regulators.

It’s a one-stop shop for CEOs looking to curry favor by dropping large sums of tax-deductible money into lawmakers’ pet voucher programs, which have proliferated like Burmese pythons in the Everglades under every Republican governor since Bush.

With the help of public officials like Senate Education Committee chair Manny Diaz, R-Hialeah, Florida leads the nation in diverting public funds to private schools unburdened by the onerous student testing requirements and micromanagement that the Legislature imposes upon public schools.

Vouchers have been hugely successful in enriching a handful of politically connected players, and the staff at Step Up is paid handsomely for its role in pushing Florida’s public school system to the brink.

In an exhaustive report, the Orlando Sentinel recently revealed how the voucher program operates to allow, and in some cases to encourage, the ugliest and most retrograde forms of discrimination against LGBTQ children and their families.

That was bad news for Step Up donors like Wells Fargo; Fifth Third Bank; Geico; United Healthcare, Waste Management and other companies in the business of selling services, not passing judgment on the orientation or life partners of their customers.

“We have reviewed this matter carefully and have decided to no longer support Step Up for Students,” said Wells Fargo in a statement issued soon after the Sentinel report. “All of us at Wells Fargo highly value diversity and inclusion, and we oppose discrimination of any kind.” The California-based banking behemoth is still digging itself out of an epic scandal involving fraud against its own customers and investors, and does not want to add bigotry to its long list of public relations problems.

Meanwhile in Tallahassee, the Legislature is shamelessly sticking to its anti-gay guns and, worse, has even attracted support from some Democrats. Under the guise of helping the economy, HB 305 takes aim at local ordinances that protect LGBTQ Floridians from employment and housing discrimination. Sponsored by Rep. Bob Rommel, R-Naples, the bill would wipe out protections currently in place. Rommel touts himself as “conservative, compassionate and committed to you,” unless you are a supporter of equal rights and dignity for citizens and taxpayers who identify LGBTQ.

Equality Florida, an organization which advocates for LGBTQ rights, argues for a better alternative. So do we. The Florida Competitive Workforce Act, SB 206, is a passion project for its sponsor, Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-St Petersburg, and has attracted a large number of co-sponsors. The bill would establish statewide nondiscrimination protections in employment and housing. Equality Florida reminds us that this bill enjoys the support of seven out of 10 Floridians along with 11 Fortune 500 companies doing business in the state.

Look for those numbers to grow as people with real family values and CEOs with real concern for the bottom line are increasingly inclined to step up against bigotry.