Pride Days at the Florida State Capitol Bring Hundreds to Tallahassee to Fight For LGBTQIA+ Rights

Lobby Days at the Florida capitol have begun, bringing countless special interest groups to Tallahassee to meet with electeds to encourage the representatives to vote with them in mind. This week, Equality Florida hosted a contingent of 400+ LGBTQ+ community members and allies to bring attention and humanity to the plight of Queer and especially Trans Floridians. The country is reeling under the current federal administration seeing everything from DEI and Civil Rights Protections stripped away to the ability for those of the Trans experience to serve in the military. Sadly, this is a familiar fight in Florida as many of the current federal policies were seemingly “tested out” on the state of Florida.

Despite the fact that the preservation of LGBTQIA+ rights are supported by both a majority of Americans and Floridans, those rights continue to be eroded away. However, through public pressure, education campaigns and court battles- Equality Florida was been incredibly successful in stalling, knocking down or reversing many of the proposed anti-Trans and LGBTQ legislation proposed in the 2024 session.

In 2025, additional legislation has been proposed with the addition of several anti-DEI bills that mirror the Executive Orders presented by the President since the Inauguration. The Equality Florida team focused specifically on HB 1571/SB 420: The Anti-Diversity in Local Government, HB 1495/SB 440: Don’t Say Gay or Trans At Work, HB 731 & SB 1710: Removing Diversity and Equity from State Agencies, HB 75/SB 100: Pride Flag Ban Bill, SB 1619: Defunding DEI in Schools Bill, several Bills attacking Birth Control for Minors, Election accessibility interference, and a relaxing of Gun Safety laws.

Participants from around the state met with Electeds in Lobby visits, sat in on Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee Hearings, a Pride at the Capitol Press Conference where Queer and allied politicians addressed the media and pep rally style crowd, and concluded the week with the 2nd Annual Let Us Live Trans March led by Angelique Godwin, Director of Transgender Equality for Equality Florida. Attendance nearly doubled from last year.