3 ms·
Some major headlines in Florida recently: "Florida Republicans Take Aim at Gender-Affirming Care, Drag Shows... [The bill] would treat parents as abusers for
by ModernMech 4y ago
Some major headlines in Florida recently:
"Florida Republicans Take Aim at Gender-Affirming Care, Drag Shows... [The bill] would treat parents as abusers for allowing medical care to children, and cracks down on parenting harder even than Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s notorious anti-trans child executive order." [1]
"Florida lawmakers approve death penalty in child rapes, sending bill to governor... The Florida Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would allow the death penalty for people who commit sexual batteries on children under age 12, sending the issue to Gov. Ron DeSantis." [2]
"Florida to allow death penalty with 8-4 jury vote instead of unanimously... If the Republican governor signs the bill into law, Florida prosecutors trying capital felony cases would need to convince only two-thirds of the 12-member jury that someone who is convicted deserves the death penalty, rather than a unanimous decision by a jury." [3]
I'm sorry, but we are able to connect dots. DeSantis looks like a fascist to many of us outside looking in. I mean, you couldn't be more transparent about building a legal framework for the state-sponsored execution of LGBTQ people. They're doing it right out in the open, and you're telling us that we should just maybe consider that the parents are concerned about what the liberals are teaching their kids about sex. Well then why are they busy passing laws making it easier to put LGBTQ people to death? You can make sure your kids are taught whatever you want without making the death penalty a 8/4 decision. You can do that without making being trans or providing trans healthcare a capital offence.
This is just like the Dobbs decision. When that landed, you had assured us it was a great thing because it meant the states could finally decide once and for all their local norms based on local politics. Well here we are now and there's a nationwide ban on abortion medicine because of an ideologue federal judge with a religious bent, writing laws from the bench, who decided he didn't like it, so we all have to abide by that. People who live in communities that support these medications will be affected, and we were assured by conservatives on the court (and their supporters) that this situation would not come to pass.
So really, I can't stand any more predications about what restraint the right will use with these laws. Any loophole in there will be used as such. Omissions and vague language aren't an oversight in lawmaking, they are tools which allow for the unequal enforcement of those laws in whatever way the executive (Ron DeSantis) prefers.
We cannot give Florida the benefit of the doubt that they aren't currently laying the edifices for genocide because a man like Ron DeSantis would never aspire to exact that kind of revenge on his enemies. Please. The man oozes petty authoritarianism. He is a walking narcissistic injury, and he's proven (though his Disney debacle) he is willing to use his power and his office to exact personal revenge against political opponents. He's not fooling anyone, and any calls to "please let's all give everyone the benefit of the doubt" doesn't pass the laugh test when he's lowering the threshold for the death penalty.
[1] https://www.advocate.com/politics/florida-republicans-transgender-drag-shows https://www.advocate.com/politics/florida-republicans-transg...
[2] https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-nsf-death-penalty-child-rapes-20230419-a7t4zmrj2nbprmpzx33iyjxavq-story.html https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-nsf-death-p...
[3] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/florida-allow-death-penalty-with-8-4-jury-vote-instead-unanimously-2023-04-14/ https://www.reuters.com/world/us/florida-allow-death-penalty...
- rayiner 4y ago[flagged]
- ModernMech 4y agoIt's not paranoid to listen to a guy dehumanize and label LGBTQ people as child abusers every chance he gets, and then wonder what he has in mind when he signs a law lowering the threshold for the death penalty the same week they approve the death penalty for child abusers. Yeah sure, let's put child rapists to death, who could disagree with that? Until all of a sudden what you do in your private or with your friends or with your family is considered "child abuse". Until your lifestyle is considered "child abuse". Until your existence is considered "child abuse". The way fascists work your religion will be considered "child abuse" eventually. You've heard of the 9 most terrifying words, well the 4 most terrifying words in English are "think of the children!" There's no limit to the atrocities people will commit in the name of God and in the name of protecting children. Do you ever wonder how a society can go from civil to erecting industrial scale human-death factories. It's little steps like these, and people rationalizing them along the way. We can make our children safe from rape and abuse without putting anyone to death. 0 people have to be put to death to keep children safe. And yet, here we are, the state is making it easier to put human beings to death as a matter of law. There should be no higher red flag raised than that.
- fknorangesite 4y agoThe American right has spent the last couple of years intentionally and systematicallly conflating LGBTQ people with child sexual assault by starting to call them "groomers". That's who's doing this dot-connecting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_grooming_conspiracy_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_grooming_conspiracy_theor... Surely you've noticed? > drag shows for children. God forbid someone in a dress read a storybook. Try not to engage in this ridiculous moral panic.
- kelseyfrog 4y agoIf parents don't want their kids attending drag shows it's pretty easy for them to simply not take their kids, but that's not what's happening. What's happening is that those parents are making a fuss about what other parents are deciding to do. Telling other kids and parents what to do is a consistent position. Like forced identity disclosures in schools. It isn't enough that they would like to get notified, but every kid who asks to be called something different has to be disclosed, or if they don't want their kid playing sports with a trans kid, they would rather kick out the trans kid out than make choices about their own participation.