Florida’s Stop WOKE law hurts businesses like ours. That’s why we’re suing DeSantis | Opinion

Florida has historically been a business-friendly state. That’s why, as entrepreneurs, we chose Florida as the place to run our companies. But it’s gotten a lot harder to stay sunny in the Sunshine State since our government stepped inside of our businesses aiming to censor what we say to our employees.

We watched in disbelief as Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a war on so-called “corporate wokeness” and Florida House Bill 7, the Stop WOKE Act, sailed through the Legislature — bypassing cautions from the business community and acting as if the First Amendment didn’t exist. While governments may patrol private business conversations in other countries, we assumed censorship was for far-away dictators who outlaw disfavored words and ideas — not the free state of Florida, not the United States of America.

We were wrong.

Providing wedding technology or scoops of ice cream is what we do best. But we can’t accept this as business as usual, so we’ve joined together to do what entrepreneurs have always done: make things better. It’s why we, along with a third Florida-based entrepreneur, have filed suit against the governor and other state officials.

With this law, the state of Florida is preventing us from sharing our beliefs about diversity, equity or inclusion with our employees, and from conducting best-in-class training to ensure that all employees can contribute fully to building the business.

What’s more, because the law is so vague, it’s almost impossible to be sure what is permissible speech and what isn’t. Is acknowledging the legacy of slavery, or the fact that women are too often paid less than men for the same amount of work, legal anymore? Is it legal to share our beliefs about how to remedy these problems, and how urgent they are? We believe this type of censorship poses a very real threat to free speech, as the uncertainty will prompt many of our peers to remain quiet about these issues.

It’s unconstitutional for an elected official to insist that we can’t talk about race or gender issues with our employees, in the manner that we deem best. And we intend to prove it in court. We’ve joined together in defense of a bedrock American principle that should unite all Floridians: Ice cream should be chilled, but not our freedom of speech.

Training our employees about diversity, equity and inclusion helps them effectively deal with colleagues and customers, work to notice and counteract any unintentional bias in their own actions, and recognize when bias is affecting our workplaces. These vital conversations cannot lawfully be censored.

The First Amendment guarantees our right to speak. And it also created the foundation for our nation’s peerless economy, fostering a spirit of entrepreneurship that has positioned American business leaders to honestly confront market realities and respond to customer demands without fear of offending a king. Seeing the world as it is and talking about it honestly has allowed us to build growing businesses and attract the best employees. This is nothing to declare war on — because doing so is akin to declaring war on education and profits. Businesses value diversity because it makes us better — kinder, more collaborative and, ultimately, more profitable. The governor has chosen a false enemy for his battle cry.

Together we employ more than 150 people, and rely on scores of contractors and vendors in Florida and beyond. We hire people who look like America, diverse and dynamic — just like our clients and customers. Florida should allow businesses to thrive and serve customers in the way we see fit, meet market demand and speak to our employees about our culture and values. But HB7 prevents us from doing that.

In the United States, we don’t have to hide from the truth or fear offending some dictator in a palace. We are a democracy, and our First Amendment right to speak and receive facts is what makes our system of self-government work. It’s also what has fostered the world’s strongest economy, one that we’re proud to play a small part in, creating jobs and growing opportunity for all.

HB7 and other laws like it that seek to constrain our free speech rights — and our profits — have no place in Florida or the United States of America. Our litigation aims to prove it.

Sara Margulis is the CEO and co-founder of Honeyfund, a Florida-based wedding registry company. Antonio McBroom is the CEO of Primo Tampa, a 100% Black-owned franchise of Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops in the Tampa Bay area.

This story was originally published August 4, 2022 at 11:34 AM.