Ban on pride flags borders on unconstitutional

Mariantonia Mejia | Staff Writer

On Dec. 18, Florida State Rep. David Borrero filed bill HB 901, which would prohibit the display of pride flags in certain government buildings – including public universities.  

According to HB 901, a governmental entity “may not erect or display a flag that represents a political viewpoint, including, but not limited to, a politically partisan, racial, sexual orientation and gender, or political ideology viewpoint.” 

This law follows the disturbing trend set by DeSantis and his “Don’t Say Gay” bill. A trend that actively terrorizes the lives of queer Floridians every single day. 

This law poses a huge threat to teachers’ and students’ constitutional rights to freedom of expression, which, according to the Supreme Court, they still have on school property. 

FIU, a public university, would be subject to this law and its implementation on a campus already struggling with the effects of the anti-trans Safety in Private Spaces Act. 

This bill claims that it does not bar any private individual from expressing “private speech or viewpoints or exercise rights protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”

Considering the wording of the bill, this doesn’t exactly make much sense. 

HB 901 refers to the displaying of flags, not just the erection of them. Meaning pride flags would most likely be banned from windows and walls as much as flagpoles.

While FIU does not currently fly a pride flag, they’re certainly teachers and students that display pride flags within the walls of their classrooms, such as queer studies professors, or visible in the windows of their dorms. 

According to this bill, private individuals have the right to freedom of expression, but if their freedom of expression entails displaying a pride flag on the walls of a government institution such as FIU, will they be barred from doing so? 

In a state that consistently targets loud and proud displays of queerness, the ability to show your pride through simple, recognizable symbols is a small miracle. It’s our way as queer people to inform others that we exist and other queer people that they’re not alone. 

This is not the only bill in recent months to target queer employees or students in Florida.

Another bill, HB 599, would ban local and state government agencies from requiring contractors and employees to use other peoples’ preferred pronouns if they “do not correspond to that person’s sex”. 

Further, the bill would also ban government agencies from making training about sexual orientation or gender identity and expression mandatory. 

This bill could make certain types of workplace discrimination and harassment against queer people completely legal. 

The deeply rooted hatred for queer people that we are seeing within the Florida government clearly knows no bounds, and it terrifies me as an out and proud lesbian. 

This is so much more than simply not being able to put up a flag or having your coworkers consistently misgender you. This is an attack on our identities as queer people. 

If we continue to actively shut down every display of queerness that makes homophobic society uncomfortable, lives are put in danger. 

In 2022, anti-queer hate crimes jumped 19% above 2021 as FBI’s annual crime report states. 

In a May DHS briefing to government and law enforcement agencies, it was stated that there is an increased threat of domestic violence towards the LGBT+ community. 

The document cited “drag-themed events, gender-affirming care, and LGBTQIA+ curricula in schools” as issues inspiring threats. 

Just last month, on Nov. 26, a lesbian and a trans woman were viciously beaten in Wynwood by a group of men. 

This is just one example of what it is like to exist as a queer person in Florida, and it doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. 

The LGBTQ+ community is tired. Every call to action is starting to sound like a broken record.

Over 500 anti-queer bills were introduced in the US in 2023, according to the American Civil Liberties Union – ten of these are in Florida. 

It seems that, at every step, the rights that our elders fought tooth and nail to win are being stripped from us.

These targeted laws do not exist in a vacuum. With every new anti-queer bill, they attempt to push us further into the shadows. You can try to erase us from the narrative, but we will always be here. 

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The opinions presented on this page do not represent the views of the PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.