In a new Florida bill, accusing a person of transphobia would come at a price point of $35,000.
Senate Bill 1780, a Defamation, False Light, and Unauthorized Publication of Name or Likenesses bill was filed by Republican Sen. Jason Brodeur last Friday. In the text, any allegations claiming that a plaintiff has been discriminatory due to race, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity “constitutes defamation per se,” and would instead penalize the accuser.
In addition, a prevailing plaintiff would be entitled to at least $35,000 in statutory damages.
This isn’t Sen. Brodeur’s first attempt at curbing free speech—a point of argument that Florida’s governor and current runner for Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has long made but proves otherwise. DeSantis himself has spearheaded Florida’s unrelenting mobilization to turn public opinions against the LGBTQ community, having led what is now nationally known as the “Don’t Say Gay,” bill with variations of its kind across the country.
Just last March, Sen. Brodeur sponsored Senate Bill 1316, also known as the “blogger bill” that was filed a month prior. The bill proposed to require bloggers who write about Florida public officials to register with the state and file their monthly compensations from their blog posts. Although the bill died in judiciary, it gave an insight to what bounds Florida officials were willing to go to limit public opinions that criticize the values of their representatives.
In the case of SB 1780, supporters of the LGBTQ community in Florida are now made vulnerable for speaking out.
For Maxx Fenning, 21-year-old founder and Executive Director of PRISM—a youth-led nonprofit that works to expand access to LGBTQ inclusive education and sexual health resources in South Florida, the motive behind SB 1780 is clear.
“Legislators who spread hateful rhetoric want the ability to do so without any consequences for their actions, and they’ll go so far as to limit free speech to get there,” he said. “In my opinion, the best way to avoid being called a bigot isn’t to wrap your constituents’ mouths with duct tape; it’s to stop doing bigoted things that harm Floridians in the first place.”
Last year, a record-breaking number of nearly 600 anti-LGBTQ legislation was introduced, according to Trans Legislation, while over 150 have already been introduced and renewed this year alone. From last year’s record, Florida accounted for 15 of the bills, and now over 20 so far this year. In the case of SB 1780, the parameters that qualify as contributing to transphobia or homophobia are tricky.
For example, a defendant cannot prove the truth of their allegation of discrimination by “citing a plaintiff’s constitutionally protected religious expression or beliefs,” nor their scientific beliefs. Even the defamation itself spans across print, televised media and “utterance on the Internet.”
According to Jon Harris Maurer, the Public Policy Director for Equality Florida—a political advocacy group for LGBTQ members of Florida—SB 1780 is an escalation of Gov. DeSantis’ censorship agenda and attempt to punish those who are critical of his administration. He tells Reckon that this bill would “chill freedom of speech,” as it forces a court to presume with no basis that any claim of sexism, racism, homophobia, or transphobia is false and defamatory.
“We cannot solve problems by ignoring them,” Maurer said. “We cannot address sexism, racism, homophobia, and transphobia by pretending they don’t exist. This bill seems intended to avoid addressing those problems, and it enforces a $35,000 minimum penalty to ensure we don’t.”
Equality Florida is helping its LGBTQ members, along with their allies, to mobilize to the Capitol for all 60 days of the legislative session.
“We have committed to show up to fight every fight,” Maurer continued. “Our community will make lawmakers face the serious harms they are perpetuating for political gain, and we will hold them accountable.”
To learn more about how you can support LGBTQ rights in Florida and in general, Fenning recommends Floridians to show up in full force to vocalize their opposition to bills like SB 1780.
“That means calling and writing your legislators and, if possible, showing up to Tallahassee to do it to their faces.”
