Leftist Floridians who oppose the new Parental Rights in Education Law now have a new potential home: New York City. NYC’s new mayor, Eric Adams, is making his sales pitch to the Florida LGBTQ community and its allies.
BREAKING: @NYCMayor announces a new digital billboard campaign in five Florida markets denouncing the hateful #DontSayGay law and inviting Floridians to move to New York. https://t.co/kPB7J7vJoU pic.twitter.com/1Dqbxmzqjo
— NYC Mayor's Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) April 4, 2022
We have a message for Florida’s LGBTQ+ community: come to a city where you can be you. Join us now at City Hall. https://t.co/0OOg7zigSB
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) April 4, 2022
Mayor Adams held a press conference where he and several other LGBTQ advocates took turns speaking about the “diversity and acceptance of New York City”, among other things. Adams condemned the Florida law as “political showmanship of attempting to demonize a particular group or community” in a statement. “We are going to loudly show our support and say to those who are living in Florida, ‘we want you here in New York'” the mayor continued.
Mayor Eric Adams then announced plans to advertise his message on Florida billboards. “We’re targeting Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, and West Palm Beach,” the mayor gleefully announced.
Other speakers continued to repeat Adams’ message and took shots at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, as well as those who support the Parental Rights law. One of the speakers who followed the mayor thanked Adams for his “act of solidarity with the LGBTQ community” in a profanity-laced statement of their own. “I’ll say it because the mayor probably won’t, but also want to give a big F-U to Governor Ron DeSantis for his lack of leadership and standing in solidarity with the LGBTQ community.” The speaker added that Republicans are using this issue to “distract us from their coup, or staged coup on January 6th of 2021.”
Despite attempts from the Eric Adams administration to convince Florida residents to leave for New York, the opposite has been happening at a record rate over the past two years. While Florida has historically been a winter haven for many in the northeast, scores are now leaving to make Florida a permanent home. According to a December 2021 article in the New York Post, some 319,020 residents fled New York state between July 2020 and July 2021. The article cited US Census Bureau data released and recorded a 1.6% year-over-year loss, making New York the nation’s leading state for population decline.
While some people in Florida oppose this new legislation, it is overwhelmingly popular, even among many self-identified Democrats. A recent poll indicated that 61% of those surveyed favored the law, while only 26% opposed it. Perhaps most telling was that a majority (55%) of Democrats supported it, including 53% of Biden voters.
