(RepublicanDaily.org) – The Tampa, Florida Pride Month festival was canceled as Florida’s new child grooming laws take effect, Breitbart reported. The recently passed laws impose, in part, penalties on establishments that expose children to publicly explicit acts or performances, Breitbart reported. The legislation was pushed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has drawn political criticism of late for his “war on woke” agenda for Florida’s state government. However, media reports have cited sources saying that the event would have been canceled even before the new legislation.
The Tampa Pride on the River festival was canceled by its organizers, WUSF public media reported. The decision was due to the possibility of penalization by the Florida government if children were in attendance at the “adult live performances.” Tampa Pride commented on the Florida Governor’s anti-groomer legislation and stated that its decision was “spelled out” for the organizers by the governor, WUSF public media quoted.
Carrie West, the president of Tampa Pride, issued a public statement explaining that everyone involved was “sick” for the local LGBTQ+ community. The Tampa Pride Board released a public statement that it was with “deep sorrow” that the organization had been “forced” to cancel the gathering, Tampa Pride’s Carrie West posted to Facebook. Members of Tampa Pride took to the Facebook comments to admonish the Tampa Pride organizers for failing to reinstate the festival as a “protest” of the new legislation.
The Tampa Pride organization had warned in March that the parade held at that time would likely “be the last” for some time as the organization anticipated DeSantis’ legislation taking effect, Axios reported. However, Tampa Pride reportedly had problems even before the DeSantis’ legislation took effect, as sources told Axios that the organization had lost the support it needed to host major events. A former board member, Mark Early, told Axios that Tampa Pride had lost all of its “supporters and allies” as well as anyone that would help them cater such an event. These claims were denied by West, Axios reported. Yet, in an interview with Axios, West confirmed that the event had been canceled even before DeSantis’ legislation.
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